The Shinigami Alchemist
by Allen the Musician
Summary: It was a stupid way to die and yet here he was. Chaos abounds as Ed finds himself in a strange new world once again as a result of a car crash. Will the inhabitants of the Seireitei ever be the same? Read to find out. FMA/Bleach crossover. R
1. Soul Society

Disclaimer- I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach. Just borrowing the characters for my own amusement.

A/N- Okay, so I was working on my fic Reincarnation when my muses decided that this would be a good idea. The muses would NOT be denied so I wrote this first chapter just to get the idea out of my head. Updates may be few and far between however I do have every intention of finishing it.

Chapter One - Soul Society

It was a stupid way to die, in Edward Elric's opinion. He'd survived wars in both Amestris and the strange world on the other side of the gate, as well as battled with homunculi, only to end up dead in an automobile accident. That had to be the very height of absurdity. His childhood friend Winry had always warned him that he was horrible with machinery and should just leave it alone however he'd thought that driving a car couldn't possibly be that difficult.

Of course he'd been wrong.

Now he was in a strange place and had no idea how he'd gotten there. The last thing he remembered was smashing into the tree and he was one hundred percent certain that the accident had killed him. After all he had died once before and therefore he knew exactly what it felt like. Plus there was the strange fact that his missing limbs, the ones that he had lost due to his failed human alchemy, had mysteriously returned.

"How the hell did I get here?" the boy raged, gazing around his surroundings in confusion. He'd merely woken up in this clearing surrounded by trees and had no idea how he'd came to be there. "And for that matter, where the hell is 'here' anyway?"

Ed walked around in a small circle, his thoughts bouncing back and forth from one possibility to the next. Unfortunately each scenario that played out in his mind was more unlikely than the previous. "This doesn't make any SENSE!"

Ed was angry however his pacing was brought up short as he suddenly recalled the passenger in the car that he had totaled. "Al," he gasped as the face of his younger brother appeared in his mind's eye. Al had been with him in the crash and he realized at this moment that he had no idea whether or not his brother had survived. "Alphonse, are you there! Say something. **AL**!"

* * *

"Captain," Vice-captain of Squad Ten Rangiku Matsumoto asked, pausing mid-step and turning her attention to the young, white-haired boy who was walking beside her. "Did you hear that?"

Captain Hitsugaya halted his steps as well and nodded in the direction of his subordinate, his attention, like hers, focused in the direction of the Rukongai. The two officers had been returning to their barracks after a liaison mission to the world of the living however they immediately changed direction after hearing the shouts that were coming from the Rukongai. "Not only did I hear it but I felt it. There was a definite influx of reiatsu accompanying those shouts. We should probably go and check it out."

After everything that had happened with Aizen and the Espada any irregularities in the Rukongai were immediately investigated no matter how minor they may appear. The Shinigami who had managed to escape the Winter War with their lives wanted to take no chances on anything happening to disrupt their newly acquired and much enjoyed peace.

"Yes sir," Matsumoto said with a nod.

* * *

"Nii-san," a familiar voice called out, interrupting Ed's frantic shouting.

Ed heaved a sigh of relief as Al stumbled through some underbrush and made his way into the clearing. He'd been afraid that he'd once again lost the person most precious to him and he was relieved beyond measure to learn that was not the case. "Al," he said as his brother came to join him in the center of the clearing. "I thought I'd lost you."

"You almost did," Alphonse Elric said, eying his older brother. "What exactly happened?"

Thinking back to the accident that had apparently claimed both of their lives Ed smiled ruefully. "I zigged when I should have zagged."

"Nii-san," Al said, shaking his head in exasperation.

"What?" Ed demanded, eying his younger brother. "So I made a mistake. Everyone's entitled."

Al shook his head once again but did not comment further.

"So do you have any idea exactly where we are?" Ed asked his younger brother as the two siblings made their way through the forest.

Al shrugged. "How should I know? The after life or something?" The younger boy shrugged again.

Ed snorted. "Some after life."

"You know Nii-san," Al said. "If you don't want my opinion then don't ask for it."

Ed realized by the tone of his brother's voice, as well as the harshness of the words, that he'd upset Al and he immediately felt guilty over that fact. "I'm sorry Al. It's just that I'm a little stressed but that's no excuse for taking it out on you."

The younger boy instantly reverted back to his usual, cheery self. "That's okay Ed. You were just being you."

"Gee thanks," Ed muttered.

"You're welcome," Al said, offering his brother an innocent smile.

"Well," Ed said with a sigh, chosing to ignore the obnoxious smile that his brother was wearing. "I guess we should look around and see if we can find any signs of civilization."

Al nodded and the two brothers left the clearing.

"Stranded in the middle of the woods," Ed muttered as he and Al made their way down a barely visible path, growing increasingly more agitated with each minute that passed. "Lost and going on some stupid nature hike. I can think of much better ways to spend an afternoon. GRRRR!"

As Ed raged a blue aura began to grow around him and this sight caused the boy to pause, confusion evident in his golden eyes. "What the hell? This isn't alchemy so what exactly. . ."

"Well there's the answer to our question Captain," a feminine voice called out from a short distance away. Ed's gaze shifted toward the sound of the voice and his gaze fell upon two strange people approaching the spot where he and his brother stood. "That little guy over there is the one making all the noise." The woman paused at this point, her gaze focused on the aura that was beginning to dissipate but still visible, and then said, "And he seems to be the source of the reiatsu that we felt as well."

_"Oh no," _Al thought to himself, recognizing trouble when he heard it. The woman who had just appeared on the scene had said the one word guaranteed to make Ed angry and Al prepared for the explosion.

**"LITTLE!"** Ed screamed, only managing to fully grasp one portion of her statement. Focusing a narrow eyed gaze on the woman the boy clenched his hands in anger. "Who are you calling a runt so. . ."

"Shut up," a new voice barked out in a commanding tone, interrupting Ed's rant.

Ed's gaze shifted away from the woman and fell upon the angry looking young boy who was standing beside her, the tip of his spiked white hair barely coming to her ample chest. His face broke out into a delighted smile as he took in the boy's appearance for the first time since his arrival. It was too good to be true, this boy was even shorter than he was. Then he recalled what the boy had said and the smile instantly disappeared. "Wait a minute. . . Did you just tell me to shut up?"

"Yes," Hitsugaya said calmly, gazing over at the blonde youth.

"Why you little. . ."

Sensing that a fight was about to break out between the two boys and seeking to avoid that scenario Matsumoto quickly stepped between them. "Alright, calm down." She turned her attention back to the blonde haired boy who appeared to be a few years older than her captain, although she knew that due to Soul Society's abnormal aging system looks meant nothing. "My name is Rangiku Matsumoto and I'm vice-captain of Squad Ten."

_"Vice-captain?" _Ed vaguely wondered if this woman was a member of a military organization or something but his thoughts quickly shifted to a more pressing matter. "You know lady, you really should teach your kid some manners."

_"No tact as usual," _Al thought to himself, noticing that the white haired boy looked as though he'd like nothing more than to throttle Ed at this point. _"Way to go Nii-san. Not to mention the fact that you're the last person who has any right to comment on bad manners."_

Matsumoto was forced to cover her mouth with her hands in order to hide the smile that Ed's comment produced however Hitsugaya was by no means amused. His eyes narrowed and a cold wind began to whirl around the group. "I'm not her kid you idiot. I'm her captain."

"Captain?" Ed repeated, blinking a couple of times in disbelief. "You?"

"Yes," Hitsugaya snapped, his teal eyes still narrowed in anger.

Ed was still confused. "But you look like you're about twelve years old. How can you be captain of anything?"

Hitsugaya clenched his hands into fists however he did not verbally reply to Ed's question. Instead he turned away from the annoying boy and his silent companion and back to his subordinate. "Come on Matsumoto, let's go. We came to find out what was causing all the noise and we did. There's nothing more for us to do here."

"Okay," Matsumoto said, feeling that they should probably find out more about these strange new arrivals to Soul Society but at the same time realizing that her captain was not in the mood for argument. Dealing with the blonde haired trouble maker and his companion would just have to wait until some other time.

_"I wonder if I said something that offended him?" _Ed thought to himself as he watched the two strangers walk away. After a few moments' thought Ed shrugged. _"Oh well. And I still have no idea where the hell I am!" _He turned to his brother. "Come on Al."

_"We've been here less than a half an hour and he's already angered someone," _Al thought to himself as he fell into step behind his older brother. _"Why can't he learn to behave himself?"_

* * *

"That has GOT to be the most obnoxious. . ." Hitsugaya muttered darkly to himself as he and Matsumoto left the Rukongai and made their way in the direction of the Squad Ten barracks.

Matsumoto couldn't really make out the words that her captain was muttering under his breath however she got the impression that he wasn't really talking to her anyway so she didn't bother asking him to repeat himself. She knew her captain's moods and this one took angry to a whole new level. Captain Hitsugaya needed to blow off some steam and this was just the best way to let him do that.

"Kid! I can't believe the nerve of him," Hitsugaya snarled.

_"Wow," _Matsumoto thought to herself, having heard that particular portion of the rant loud and clear. _"I haven't seen the Captain this worked up since he first met Ichigo. Even Momo doesn't usually illicit this level of reaction from him and she has tons of practise setting him off."_

The two Squad Ten officers went to the office that they shared and, after they'd been there for a little while, Matsumoto felt that it was most likely safe to bring up their earlier encounter with the strange blonde-haired boy. Her captain had been given ample time to cool down after his rather heated exchange with the strange youth and she figured now was as good a time as any. "Captain, don't you think that we should tell someone about those boys from the Rukongai?" At this point Matsumoto braced herself for the explosion.

It didn't come however.

Hitsugaya merely sighed and gazed over at his vice-captain, his usual stoic expression having returned to his face. "Unfortunately yes. Someone will have to be informed of their arrival due to the high level of reiatsu that one was exhibiting. I'll send a message to Head Captain Ukitake later, letting him know what we discovered."

Matsumoto nodded. Under the circumstances she thought that solution to the problem was more than adequate and quite frankly more than she had expected. It was definitely a good thing that Captain Hitsugaya took his duty seriously.

* * *

Ed blazed a trail through the forest however he was becoming increasingly more exhausted, as well as annoyed, with each step that he took. Gazing around he saw that there were still no signs of civilization and to be completely honest he was growing tired of looking. He took a few more steps and then stopped so abruptly that Al actually ran into him.

"Hey!" Al exclaimed, rubbing his nose and glaring at his brother.

"Sorry," Ed apologized once again. "But I'm too tired to walk anymore."

Al surveyed the scene. They were still in the middle of nowhere. "So what exactly do you suggest we do Nii-san?"

"We'll make a shelter," Ed replied without missing a beat. "We can rest and regain our strength, then move on tomorrow."

Al wasn't overly enthusiastic about making camp in the middle of the forest however he knew from experience that when his brother got an idea in his head there was no talking him out of it. The younger boy sighed and then nodded his head ever so slightly.

Ed's face broke into a broad grin. "Excellent! Let's get to work."

Al nodded and as the two brothers gathered up the supplies they would need to build a temporary shelter he thought, for the first time in his life, that it really was a good thing that their sensei had forced them to fend for themselves on that island during their training. _"Never thought I'd be grateful for that," _he thought wryly.

TBC. . .

A/N- I've wanted to write a cross over for these two anime for a long time because Ed and Toushirou are my absolute favorite characters and interaction between the two of them just has such potential and like I said in the earlier author's note the muses would not take no for an answer. I'm not sure how I feel about this fic but I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Feel free to review and let me know your thoughts on the subject.


	2. Finding a Place to Belong

Disclaimer- I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach.

Chapter Two - Finding a Place to Belong

After Hitsugaya had calmed somewhat from his encounter with the obnoxious boy in the Rukongai he decided that he should pay a visit to Head Captain Ukitake and tell him in person about the two boys. As much as he would like to explain the situation in a letter that he could have one of his subordinates deliver the young captain realized that this was not the responsible thing to do. The news of this boy would be better delivered in person. So, decision made, the young captain got to his feet, informed his vice-captain that he was leaving, and then made his way to Squad One.

When he arrived at the Squad One office Hitsugaya knocked lightly on the door, to announce his arrival. A few minutes passed and then a voice called out, "Enter."

Hitsugaya slid the door open and stepped inside the office.

"Oi it's Toushirou!"

Hitsugaya instantly bristled as he heard the new Squad Five Captain call out his name. His given name. No matter how many times the orange haired menace did that it never became less annoying. "Hitsugaya," the young captain snarled. Even though they were now even in rank, since Kurosaki had been given the title of Squad Five Captain after he defeated Aizen, it still annoyed Hitsugaya that the man insisted on referring to him so informally. At the very least he could use his last name. Hitsugaya cast a narrow-eyed gaze in the man's direction however Kurosaki merely offered him a goofy grin, completely unphased by his fellow captain's displeasure.

_"One of these days,"_ Hitsugaya thought to himself, clenching his hands into fists in an attempt to resist the urge to throttle Kurosaki. Captains were absolutely forbidden to fight one another however the orange haired Captain of Squad Five made him want to forget that particular rule just long enough to knock some sense into him.

"So what brings you to my office Toushirou?" Ukitake asked the young captain, recognizing the deadly look in the boy's teal eyes as he gazed over at Kurosaki.

"Sorry sir," Hitsugaya said in a quiet voice, turning his full attention to the Head Captain. It was at this point that Hitsugaya realized that the Head Captain could have had some important business with Kurosaki. "I didn't mean to interrupt. . ."

Ukitake held up his hands, halting the boy's apology mid sentence. "Don't worry about it Toushirou, it wasn't anything important. So what's up?"

"Well," Hitsugaya said, attempting to recall the earlier incident without reliving the anger that the blonde haired boy's words had evoked. "Matsumoto and I were returning from our mission when we heard shouting coming from the direction of the Rukongai. A surge of reiatsu accompanied the shouting so we decided to check things out for ourselves."

"And?" Kurosaki prompted when Hitsugaya paused his story briefly.

Hitsugaya frowned however he continued the story without comment. "We found two boys wandering around the Rukongai and I believe that one of those boys was the source of the reiatsu."

Ukitake nodded, glad that Hitsugaya had told him about the new arrivals. Everyone was still on edge from the Winter War with Aizen and no one wanted to take any unnecessary chances. The Head Captain held a thoughtful expression in his eyes for a few moments and then he abruptly got to his feet. "We should go and find out what those two boys are capable of."

Kurosaki nodded his head in agreement, seeming eager for the trip to the Rukongai. Hitsugaya, on the other hand, was more reserved. He'd already seen more of the boy than he wanted to and a repeat performance of the scene earlier did not appeal to him in any way.

"Come on Toushirou," Kurosaki said, stepping over to the spot where the white haired captain was standing and throwing an arm around his shoulder. "It could be fun."

"Get your damn hand off me Kurosaki!" Hitsugaya snapped, taking a couple of steps back away from his fellow captain.

"Okay, okay." Kurosaki was holding his hands up in a placating gesture however there was a smirk on his face. "Calm down, I didn't mean anything by it." The smile the orange haired captain wore on his face belied his words of apology however.

Hitsugaya didn't look convinced but he chose not to comment.

Ukitake had watched all of this unfold with a calm expression and now that it seemed to be over he spoke up. "Come on. Let's take a little trip out to the Rukongai."

Hitsugaya was still less than anxious to see the blonde kid again however it seemed to him that he was out numbered. The young captain shrugged his shoulders in defeat and then fell into step behind Head Captain Ukitake and Kurosaki.

* * *

"Nii-san," Al spoke up, breaking the silence that had enveloped the two brothers for the past couple of hours.

"Yea Al," Ed said, opening his eyes and gazing over at his brother. Al was sitting in front of the makeshift tent that the siblings had constructed and he had a thoughtful expression in his kind, gray eyes. "What's on your mind?"

"I was just thinking about this world," Al said in a quiet voice, gazing around at his surroundings before focusing back on the familiar face of his brother. "I'm curious to find out more about it."

"You and me both," Ed said, gazing down at his hands. He still couldn't get used to the fact that he had both of his hands once more and this fact alone was enough to tell him that he and his brother were no longer among the living. Not that being dead seemed to be all that bad except for the stupid nature hike and the disturbing lack of food. Ed's stomach began to growl at the very thought of food. "Man," he groaned, clutching his stomach and making an awful face. "I'm starving."

"So you really do have reiatsu," a voice called out from a short distance away, joining the conversation without having been invited.

Ed glanced up and watched as three people stepped into the clearing where he and Al had made their campsite. One was the angry, white-haired boy from earlier however the other two were completely new faces. One was an older man who also had white hair and the other was an orange haired boy who appeared to be around Ed's own age, although regrettably he was taller. All three of them were wearing the same white coats, although the older man's had sleeves while the other two didn't, and Ed vaguely wondered whether they had some special significance.

"Excuse me," Al spoke up, surprising everyone including himself. He usually wasn't the outgoing one however he wanted to know about this strange world that he and his brother found themselves in and he had the feeling that this group would be able to answer their questions. This made him decide to speak up before Ed had the chance to offend their guests.

The white haired man turned kind eyes to Al. "Yes?"

"Can you maybe tell us where we are sir?" Al asked in a quiet and polite voice, his gaze hopeful.

"You're in District Five of the Rukongai," the man replied. "Which is located in Soul Society."

"Soul Society?" Al repeated. He turned to face his brother. "See, I told you it was the after life."

"And you were right," the man said, regaining Al's attention. "My name is Jyuushirou Ukitake and I came here from the Seireitei in search of you boys. I was told that the two of you have high reiatsu and needed to discern the truth of that for myself."

"Seireitei," Al said, still confused. He hadn't understood the strange words that were being spoken by the white-haired stranger. "Reiatsu?"

Ukitake nodded, not really surprised that they knew nothing of the Seireitei or even the spiritual powers that they themselves possessed. "The Seireitei is the location inside of Soul Society where the Shinigami live and reiatsu is your spiritual energy."

"And you think we have, what did you call it, spiritual energy?" Ed asked, doubt evident in the tone of his voice.

Ukitake nodded.

"Yea right," Ed scoffed, shaking his head at the absurdity of that statement.

"You sound doubtful," Kurosaki said, gazing over at the blonde haired boy. "You're hungry aren't you?"

"Well yea," Ed admitted, clutching his stomach as it once again gave a ferocious growl.

"Well hunger in this world is a sign of reiatsu," Kurosaki explained. "Most souls do not have enough reiatsu to cause hunger but for those with higher levels of power food is required. You seem to be among the latter."

Ed still did not look convinced.

"What an idiot," Hitsugaya muttered, his gaze focused on Ed.

"You again!" Ed snapped, an identical look of annoyance appearing in his golden eyes as his gaze fell upon the white-haired boy from earlier. "You rude little. . ."

"Don't make me have to kill you," Hitsugaya threatened, his hands clenched into fists. A blue aura grew around the young captain and at the same time an icy wind began to blow around the group.

"As if a little runt like you could hurt me," Ed said, not even remotely concerned by Hitsugaya's threat, and seemingly oblivious to the irony of his own words. An almost identical blue aura grew around Ed as he gazed over at Hitsugaya.

"Why you. . ."

_"Wow," _Kurosaki thought to himself as he felt the electricity caused by the two boys' reiatsu. _"Those two could do some serious damage."_

"Alright," Ukitake called out, placing a restraining hand out and halting Hitsugaya's advance toward the blonde boy. "You two can bond later, for now we have more pressing matters to attend to. I think that you boys should come to the Seireitei so that your powers can be assessed. I have no doubt that you have the potential to become Shinigami."

"And Shinigami are?" Ed asked.

"Shinigami are the ones charged with protecting the souls of the living from Hollow and performing Konso in order to send them to Soul Society," Ukitake explained. "And Hollows are lost souls that prey upon normal souls which haven't yet made it to Soul Society."

"Hmm," Ed said in a thoughtful voice.

Al turned to his brother, a questioning look in his eyes. Ed knew the question that his younger brother didn't ask however he was hesitant to follow this group. He still wasn't sure if he believed the words that the man had said however he couldn't deny that he was curious.

"Come on Nii-san," Al said, picking up on his brother's hesitancy. He knew that Ed had issues trusting people however for some reason he believed the words that the white-haired man had spoken and thought that they should go with the group.

"Alright," the elder of the Elric siblings said after a few minutes' debate, getting to his feet. Al quickly joined him. "We're game."

"Excellent," Ukitake said while Kurosaki offered the two boys a smile and Hitsugaya groaned.

Ed and Al fell into step behind the group from the Seireitei and together the five made their way through the Rukongai. Ukitake, Kurosaki, and Al were all silent during the trek back to the Seireitei however Hitsugaya and Ed both muttered darkly to themselves.

As Ed and his brother followed the group of strangers through the forest Ed realized for the first time that the white coats they were wearing weren't all the same, as he had first thought. Each of them had a number and the numbers were all different; the white haired man's had the number one, the orange haired youth's had the number five and the white haired youth's had the number ten. _"What the hell is up with that?" _Ed thought to himself, wondering why they were numbered. "Hey guys," Ed spoke up, overwhelmed by his curiosity. "Where exactly is the rest of your group?"

"What do you mean?" Kurosaki asked, glancing over his shoulder at the blonde haired boy.

"The coats you're wearing," Ed said. "Numbers one, five and ten. I was just wondering where the others were."

"Oh that," Kurosaki said. "The haoris that we're wearing signify our rank as captain. There are thirteen squads and Ukitake is captain of Squad One, I'm captain of Squad Five, and Toushirou over there is captain of Squad Ten."

"Hitsugaya!" the white haired youth snapped in annoyance.

"Right," Kurosaki said, making no move to correct himself.

"I see," Ed said, his gaze focused on Kurosaki. "So you guys are members of some military organization?"

"You could say that," Ukitake said, joining the conversation. "We're all captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, which guard the Seireitei, Soul Society and the world of the living."

"Well that's kinda cool," Ed said.

"I'm glad you think so," Ukitake said in a kind tone of voice. "Since I have the feeling that both you and your brother are going to turn out to be Shinigami. We'll have to test your powers of course but since your reiatsu is what alerted us to your presence in the Rukongai in the first place I have the feeling that this is going to turn out to be merely a formality."

Ed was silent as he contemplated the words of Ukitake. So he and his brother had the potential to become Shinigami, which according to the words of the strangers, fought to protect the souls of the living from monsters called Hollow. Ed wasn't sure whether or not he believed their story however his curiosity had been aroused and he wanted to find out for himself.

Head Captain Ukitake led the way to the Squad One barracks and once the group arrived there he turned his attention to the two boys from the Rukongai. "You two can stay the night here at Squad One and in the morning we'll assess your abilities and take action accordingly."

Al bowed politely to Ukitake. "Thank you sir."

"Hey," Ed spoke up. "Do you think we could maybe get something to eat?"

"Nii-san," Al said, turning reproachful eyes to his brother and shaking his head.

Ukitake smiled and nodded. "Of course."

Thoroughly tired of the blonde haired boy's irreverent attitude Hitsugaya turned and walked away. He'd informed the Head Captain of their presence in Soul Society and had even gone so far as to travel to the Rukongai to get them and felt that he'd done more than his duty. There was no need for him to stick around and endure further torture.

"Oi Toushirou!" Kurosaki called out, jogging over to join Hitsugaya. "Wait up."

"Hitsugaya," the young captain snapped, turning his gaze toward Kurosaki. "And what the hell do you want Kurosaki?"

"Just to talk," Kurosaki replied as the two captains walked away from Squad One. Hitsugaya was taken back by the words of the orange haired captain and he gazed up at Kurosaki in confusion. "So tell me, honestly, what do you think about those two?"

Hitsugaya pondered the question for a few minutes before he replied, "Despite my personal feelings, they definitely have potential. Just how much remains to be seen."

"Hmm," Kurosaki said.

TBC. . .

A/N- and there's chapter two. this was kinda fun to write and I hope that you enjoyed it. hopefully it won't be too long before chapter three is up but I make no promises. until next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.


	3. Adjusting

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Three - Adjusting

After making sure that his two guests had everything that they could conceivably need to be comfortable Head Captain Ukitake left them alone in the small apartment that he's provided in Squad One. He would have plenty of time to assess their skills after they'd had a good night's sleep. There was no need to rush into anything. After all, much had happened to them since their arrival in Soul Society and they needed time to adjust to their new environment.

"So what do you think of these Shinigami people Al?" Ed asked his brother once the two had eaten their fill of the food that Ukitake had provided.

"They seem nice enough to me," Al replied in his customary quiet voice.

Ed's thoughts flashed back to the white-haired youth that he'd met and he shuddered involuntarily. "Some of 'em anyway," he muttered darkly.

Al didn't have to ask whom his brother was referring to because he knew exactly who his brother had been thinking of when he'd made the comment and personally he thought that the reason his brother didn't get along with the white-haired Shinigami boy, and vice-versa, was that their personalities were too similar. They couldn't help but clash with one another. Of course he'd never tell Ed this fact because he knew what his brother's reaction would be and did not relish the thoughts of such an exchange.

"So what do you think about the whole reiatsu thing that Ukitake-san was talking about?" Al asked after awhile, turning a questioning gaze toward his older brother. He knew from experience that changing the question was the best way to improve his brother's mood.

Ed shrugged. "I don't know Al. I can't say that it's complete nonsense because of that weird energy that surrounded me when I was about to fight that Hitsugaya kid but I haven't been able to make it happen again. And on top of that I can't use alchemy anymore."

"I noticed that too," Al said thoughtfully. "I guess alchemy doesn't exist in the afterlife."

Ed shrugged once again as he threw himself down on one of the two beds that occupied the room. "Oh well. I'd kinda gotten used to not being able to use alchemy but I still had my hopes."

"I know how you feel," Al said as he lay down on the other bed. He also missed the use of alchemy.

"I'm beat," Ed announced needlessly, placing his hands behind his head. "We can talk about this more tomorrow."

" 'Kay," Al said. "Night Nii-san."

"Good night Al."

* * *

When Al awoke the next morning it was to find his older brother already awake and sitting on the edge of his bed. There was an intense expression in Ed's golden eyes and he appeared to be completely lost in thought.

"Nii-san," Al said in a quiet voice.

Ed turned his gaze in the direction of his brother and offered him a slightly crooked smile. "So you finally decided to wake up huh?"

"Give me a break," Al said, pretending to be annoyed by his brother's comment. "I had a hard day yesterday, what with the fact that you killed us, so excuse me if I was tired."

Ed sobered. "I'm really sorry about this Al."

"Hey," Al said, not having meant to make his brother feel guilty over what had happened. "It was an accident. I don't really blame you, I was just trying to give you a hard time. Don't worry about it."

Ed nodded and appeared to feel somewhat better after hearing Al's reassurance. "So what do you suppose they have in store for us today?"

"I don't know," Al replied, thinking of the white-haired man named Ukitake.

* * *

After an early morning spent doing paperwork and thinking about the two new arrivals to the Seireitei, Head Captain Ukitake made his way to Ed and Al's apartment and when he reached their door he knocked softly and then stepped back, waiting for a reply from within. A few minutes passed and then the door opened to reveal the younger of the two brothers.

"Hello," the boy said.

"Good morning," Ukitake said in a kind voice. "Did you boys sleep well?"

"Very well thanks," Al replied, motioning for the man to enter the apartment.

Ukitake stepped inside and as his eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness of the room he saw that the older of the two brothers was sitting on the edge of one of the beds. "Are you boys ready for a little lesson on reiatsu?"

Both boys perked up, eager to learn more about the use of spiritual energy. Ed and Al both nodded enthusiastically.

"Alright," Ukitake said, smiling slightly at the excited expressions on both of the boys' faces. "Follow me and we'll have a little lesson on kidou."

Ed jumped to his feet and quickly crossed the room, coming to stand beside his younger brother. Both boys followed Head Captain Ukitake out of the small apartment, across the complex and out into a courtyard. Once they were outside Ukitake turned to face the two boys. "Okay, now I'm going to teach you how to manipulate your reiatsu and use kidou."

"Alright!" Ed exclaimed.

Al was less vocal but no less excited.

* * *

The trio spent several hours out in the courtyard, working on the usage of kidou, however both boys proved unable to manipulate their reiatsu enough to actually be able to perform the simple attack that Ukitake was attempting to teach them.

Needless to say Ed was growing frustrated with his lack of skill while Al was accepting.

"I don't understand," Ukitake said in his customary, calm voice. "All signs point to the fact that you possess high reiatsu, which was corroborated by Captain Hitsugaya, and yet you seem unable to harness that power in order to use kidou."

"Dammit," Ed swore.

"Nii-san," Al said, casting a reproachful look in his brother's direction.

"I can't help it," Ed said, rubbing the back of his head. "This is annoying and now I'm starving again."

Al rolled his eyes. "You're always starving."

"I can't help it," Ed said in his own defense.

"Why don't you boys go back to your apartment," Ukitake suggested. "And I'll have someone bring you something for lunch. We'll make another attempt at the kidou this evening."

Ed didn't really look eager to stop the lessons however his stomach gave a demanding growl and he nodded his head. Maybe after a decent meal he'd be more perceptive to what the white-haired man was trying to teach him. It couldn't hurt at any rate.

The two brothers slowly made their way back to their small apartment and as they walked Ed complained about the situation. "I can't believe that I couldn't make that weird blue aura show up again. I didn't exactly do it on purpose the last time but I know I can do it. I know it."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out Nii-san," Al said in a quiet voice. "At least you've done it once before. I can't even say that."

"I'm sure you'll be able to do it too Al," Ed said to his younger brother.

"I don't know," Al said, his voice filled with doubt.

A/N- This chapter was really short but it's leading up to chapter four, which I hope to have posted sometime in the near future. Notice I said, hope, not making any promises here. Please review and tell me what you thought. Until next time, this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.


	4. The Test

Disclaimer- I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Four - The Test

A couple of days had passed since his encounter with the two boys in the Rukongai and Hitsugaya had finally managed to forget that any of it had occurred. It had taken a great deal of meditation however he'd finally been able to banish the sight of the obnoxious boy from the Rukongai from his mind. The young captain was sitting at his desk in the Squad Ten office, idly thumbing through a stack of paperwork that he'd bullied Matsumoto into completing, when he heard a knock on the door. Glancing up from the papers Hitsugaya called out, "Come in."

The door of the office slid open and some random Shinigami that Hitsugaya didn't recognize stepped inside. The man walked the short distance across the office to Hitsugaya's desk and then sank to one knee in a respectful bow. "Captain Hitsugaya, I bring a message from Head Captain Ukitake."

Slightly surprised by the show of respect and vaguely thinking to himself that this must be one of the recent Academy graduates Hitsugaya said, "So what's the message?"

"The Head Captain requests your presence in the Squad One courtyard in one hour," the Squad One member replied.

"Right," Hitsugaya said, hoping against hope that this summons didn't have anything to do with the blonde haired menace from the Rukongai. "I'll be there."

The Squad One member nodded as he got to his feet, bowed respectfully to the young captain, and then left the office.

"I wonder what this is all about," Hitsugaya thought to himself as he watched the door of his office slide shut. Shrugging to himself the young captain went back to proof-reading his vice-captain's paperwork. He would find out soon enough what Ukitake wanted with him so there was no use dwelling on it now.

"Captain!

Hitsugaya was once again jarred from his thoughts as the door of his office was thrust open and his vice-captain waltzed in, a wide grin on her face. Sighing in resignation Hitsugaya pushed the papers to the side, fully realizing that he wasn't going to get anything accomplished with all of these interruptions. "What do you want Matsumoto?"

"Oh nothing really," his vice-captain said in a sing-songy voice, tossing a lock of her strawberry blonde hair behind her back and plopping down on the sofa.

Hitsugays growled under his breath and glared at his subordinate. "So you just felt the need to interrupt me for no reason?"

Matsumoto opted not to verbally reply to this question from her captain and instead offered him a wide smile.

_"Why do I even bother?" _the young prodigy thought to himself as he messaged his temples with the tips of his fingers. He could already feel the beginnings of a headache and it was still early in the day. This did not bode well for the captain of Squad Ten.

* * *

An hour later, on the dot, Hitsugaya arrived at the Squad One courtyard and as he walked through the gate it was to find a trio of people awaiting his arrival. Head Captain Ukitake was there of course and Hitsugaya was forced to stifle a groan as his gaze fell upon the two boys from the Rukongai.

_"You have got to be kidding me?" _Hitsugaya thought to himself as he walked slowly toward the spot where the Head Captain was standing. The young captain forced his face to remain impassive, even as he was wondering what exactly he'd done to deserve this level of punishment, and when he reached Ukitake he came to a stop and said, "You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes," Ukitake said, picking up on the subtle hints that Hitsugaya wasn't overly happy with the situation but chosing to ignore them. He was convinced that this was the best way to bring out Edward's powers. "I need your help with something Toushirou."

The young prodigy was almost afraid to ask but he had to know. "And what exactly is it that you need help with?"

Ukitake gestured toward the blonde haired boy who was standing with his brother a couple of feet away. "It seems that Edward is unable to consciously control his reiatsu. We've attempted kidou several times, all to no avail. Since you're the one who caused his flair of reiatsu the previous time I was thinking that perhaps if you engaged him in combat you may be able to force it out of him again."

Hitsugaya was at a loss. "You mean you want me to fight him?"

"Not a serious fight," Ukitake was quick to say, remembering that the two boys' relationship hadn't exactly gotten off to a stellar beginning. "I'm convinced that he just needs a little nudge in the right direction. He's been studying the usage of kidou for the past couple of days and now it's time for practical skills, so to speak."

Smirking Hitsugaya placed his hand to the hilt of the zanpaktou that he was wearing secured across his back and drew Hyourinmaru. Then, once he was holding his four foot long sword out in front of him, he turned to face the blonde haired boy named Edward, the smirk still on his face. A blue aura grew around Hitsugaya and an icy wind began to blow across the courtyard.

"Oh I am so wiping that smirk off his face," Ed muttered under his breath as he clenched his hands tightly into fists, hating the smug expression that Hitsugaya had on his face and vowing to do something about it.

"But Nii-san," Al said, reaching out quickly and grabbing his brother by the upper arm. "You can't even use your powers and he's a captain." Al had also done some research during their brief stay inside the Seireitei and he knew exactly what you had to be able to do in order to be a captain and although he didn't understand all of the terminology he knew without a doubt that it wasn't an easy thing to accomplish.

"I don't give a damn what he is," Ed said loudly as he took a couple of menacing steps toward Hitsugaya. "I'm going to kick his ass."

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes at this statement and sheathed Hyourinmaru. "I've changed my mind. You're not even worth the use of Hyourinmaru."

"Why you. . ."

"Hey," a voice called out from the gate of the courtyard. "What exactly is going on? I felt Toushirou's reiatsu and. . . " It was at this moment that Kurosaki's eyes fell upon Ed and his question was answered without a word from Ukitake. "O---oh, I see."

The orange haired Captain of Squad Five quickly jogged over to the spot where Head Captain Ukitake was standing. "So what exactly is going on Ukitake?" There was a look in his eyes that said plain as words, 'can you see what's about to happen?'

"Just a little test," Ukitake said calmly, although he was far from certain that this little experiment of his would turn out okay for all concerned.

"Okay," Kurosaki said, deciding that there was nothing to do but trust the judgement of the Head Captain. "But I hope you know what you're doing."

_"You and me both," _Ukitake thought to himself although he didn't make any reply.

Hitsugaya and Edward faced off against one another, each sizing up the other, and then the young captain abruptly raised his hands and Edward watched in horror as a ball of red energy flew from the boy's hands and came toward him.

"What the hell!" Edward exclaimed as he barely managed to jump out of the way of the attack, which slammed into the ground where he'd been standing only moments before.

"It's kidou," Hitsugaya said, still wearing the same maddening smirk. "Which is what Head Captain Ukitake has been trying to teach you for the past three days."

Edward stared at the burnt spot on the ground however his attention was brought back to Hitsugaya when he felt the energy building up once more. His golden eyed gaze shifted back to Hitsugaya and he saw blue energy gathering around his hands. _"Now what?" _he thought to himself as he prepared to dodge whatever attack the kid chose to launch at him.

Kurosaki turned to Head Captain Ukitake as Hitsugaya unleashed Pale Fire Crash on his hapless opponant. "I don't think this is such a good idea. I don't think things are going so well for Edward."

"We'll give it a few more minutes," Ukitake said in a quiet voice, his eyes never once leaving the two boys who were engaged in battle. He wasn't all that worried about Edward because he'd noticed something that Kurosaki apparently had not. Hitsugaya wasn't actually aiming at Edward but instead was directing his attacks to land beside the other boy.

Kurosaki shrugged and focused his attention back to the two combatants.

Ed's thoughts raced as he dodged several attacks from the white haired boy who seemed intent upon killing him and he recalled one of the so called spirit chants that Ukitake had taught him in order to control kidou. Ed opened his mouth to say the chant however his words were stopped before they even exited his mouth by yet another kidou blast.

"This is seriouly pissing me off!" Edward yelled as he dodged this latest attack from Hitsugaya, a blue aura beginning to surround him. After he dodged the attack he whirled around to face his opponant, held up his hands, hurriedly spit out the one chant that he could remember and watched in shocked amazement as a ball of red energy shot from his own hands.

Ukitake nodded his head in approval as he witnessed Edward use one of the many kidou attacks that he had attempted to teach the boy. Red Flame Cannon was one of the more basic attacks however the fact that Edward had successfully performed it gave the Head Captain hope that he would be able to master the more difficult moves soon.

"Well," Kurosaki said as he watched Hitsugaya dodged Ed's attack and counter with one of his own. "Three days in the Seireitei and he's already ahead of me."

"I keep telling you that you should learn kidou," Ukitake told the orange haired captain.

"I know," Kurosaki said with a shrug, thinking about all the work he'd have to do in order to learn to use kidou. The Squad Five Captain shuddered at the very thought and since he hadn't exactly wanted to become a captain in the first place there was no way he was going to work extra hard to be good at the job. "But it's just not worth my time."

"Dammit!" Ed exclaimed as he dodged yet another attack from Hitsugaya. Sliding to a stop and kicking up a massive amount of dirt Ed once more used the only attack that he seemed capable of pulling off and he watched as the red ball of energy soared toward Hitsugaya.

The young captain allowed the attack to come within mere inches of hitting him before he dodged the attack effortlessly using his flash-step. Hitsugaya smirked at the blonde boy one more time before launching yet another kidou blast in his direction.

Ukitake knew what was going to happen a split second before it actually unfolded before his eyes. As before Hitsugaya was aiming at a spot beside Edward however this time the blonde boy was about to dodge in the wrong direction.

Ed jumped to the side, in an attempt to avoid Hitsugaya's attack, however once again he zigged when he should have zagged and the kidou blast made contact. Ed flew through the air and landed on the ground with a dull thud.

All eyes focused on the limp form that was lying on the ground and Hitsugaya's eyes were wide in disbelief. Sure the boy was an absolute pain in the neck but he hadn't meant to actually hurt him.

"Nii-san!" Al shouted as he dashed across the courtyard and dropped to his knees beside the spot where his older brother was laying. Holding out his hand Al watched as his brother was enveloped in a golden light and the wounds caused by the kidou blast began to heal.

After only a few moments Ed sat up and he gazed over at his brother in shock. "Al. . ."

"I have no idea what I just did," Al exclaimed, gazing down at his hands in shocked amazement. The golden aura had faded, leaving nothing behind to explain what exactly had happened.

"Alright," Ukitake called out, gaining the attention of the three youths out on the battlefield. "I think we've gathered all of the information that we require from this little exercise."

Al held out his hand and pulled his brother to his feet and together the two boys made their way back over to the spot where Ukitake and Kurosaki were standing. Hitsugaya joined the group moments later and as soon as they were all assembled in the same location Ukitake turned his gaze toward the two non Shinigami of the group. "This proves that you both possess fairly strong reiatsu and if you're willing I propose that you begin attending classes at the Shinigami Academy immediately."

"The Shinigami Academy?" Al repeated.

Ukitake nodded. "At the Academy you'll learn the skills you'll need as a Shinigami."

"What do you think Nii-san?" Al asked, turning his attention to his older brother.

After the use of kidou in the fight with Hitsugaya, Ed was determined to learn to fully control these strange powers that he seemed to be in possession of and he nodded his head. "I think we should go to the Academy. It's not like we have anything better to be doing with our time. I'm always up for learning something new."

"Then it's decided," Ukitake said, offering the two boys a smile. "Tomorrow the two of you will officially be students of the Shinigami Academy. Until then you're both free to do what you want."

Ed and Al both nodded and together they left the Squad One courtyard.

Once Ed and Al had left the Squad One courtyard Ukitake turned toward Hitsugaya. "Thanks for your help Toushirou."

"Don't mention it," Hitsugaya said, having actually enjoyed firing kidou blasts at the boy from the Rukongai.

"And thank you for going easy on him," Ukitake said with a smile. "I noticed that you were aiming your attacks at the ground beside Edward instead of directly at him."

Kurosaki's jaw dropped in surprise. How exactly had he missed something like that?

"Hmph," Hitsugaya said with a shrug, his voice gruff and his teal eyes narrowed. "It wasn't as though he was a worthy opponant or anything."

"If I didn't know better I'd think Toushirou actaully enjoyed torturing that boy," Kurosaki said, gazing down at the white-haired captain with one eyebrow upraised.

"Hitsugaya," the prodigy snapped, glaring at his fellow captain as though he'd like nothing better than to blast Kurosaki where he stood.

"You're dismissed," Ukitake said, breaking up the fight before it had a chance to break out. Shaking his head he watched as both Hitsugaya and Kurosaki walked away, the former surrounded by a vast aura. When would the boy learn that Kurosaki wouldn't enjoy taunting him nearly as much if he just stopped reacting to it?

* * *

"So Nii-san," Al said as he and his brother walked away from the Squad One barracks. "What should we do now?"

"I don't know about you," Ed replied. "But I have every intention of going back to that library and studying up on how to manipulate reiatsu and the use of kidou. I'm going to get through these classes as soon as possible and then I'm going to have a rematch with that annoying little. . ."

"Nii-san," Al said in a reproachful voice. Personally he didn't think that his brother should be calling anyone little, after the way he used to react to such comments, however he had no intentions of telling this to Edward. He didn't want to start a fight with his brother just as he'd learned to somewhat control his reiatsu. "So Ed, what do you make of my powers? Did you read anything about a healing kidou in those books you were pouring over?"

Edward shook his head. "No. I was mainly focused on attacks. We'll have to ask someone about it later. I'm sure Ukitake will know what it is."

Al nodded, wishing that he'd thought to ask the white-haired Shinigami about his strange healing powers before they'd left Squad One. _"Oh well," _he thought to himself as he and Ed made their way across the Seireitei toward the library. _"It's not like I won't see him again."_

* * *

After the rather unorthodox battle in the Squad One courtyard Hitsugaya made his way back to his office in Squad Ten. As he slid the door open the young captain saw that Matsumoto was still on the sofa only now she'd fallen asleep.

_"Once again, what did I ever do to deserve this level of punishment?" _Hitsugaya thought to himself as he sat down at his desk and resumed thumbing through the stack of paperwork.

TBC. . .

A/N- and there we have chapter four. hope you enjoyed this installment and next up is the Academy. that should be fun-filled beyond belief. til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.


	5. Academy Bound

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach, they are the property of Hiromu Arakawa and Kubo Tite respectively

Chapter Five - Academy Bound

After spending a rather fitful night, anticipating what was to come when they began classes at the Shinigami Academy, Ed and Al awoke early and dressed in the blue and white Academy uniforms that Head Captain Ukitake had provided for them the previous day. The uniforms resembled those worn by the full-fledged Shinigami except that they weren't black.

"Well this is weird," Ed muttered as he gazed down at the baggy set of clothes that he now wore. "And it's not even my color."

"Well you could have had red," Al said with a smirk, rather enjoying the uncomfortable expression on his older brother's face. "Ukitake-san told me that the uniforms come in red and blue however the color scheme is red for the girls and blue for the boys. But hey, you could probably ask him if he'd make an exception in your case."

"Oh shut up," Ed snapped, sending a glare in his brother's direction.

Unable to help himself Al began to laugh. The expression on his brother's face was just too priceless.

"You are so evil," Ed said, casting a reproachful gaze in the direction of his brother. "You didn't used to be this way. What exactly happened to you?"

"Uh you left," Al said, referring to the fact that his brother had sacrificed himself in order to bring him back and had therefore been trapped on the other side of the Gate. "Kinda had to learn to stick up for myself after that."

"You're right Al, I'm sorry," Ed said, hanging his head at the reminder of the time that he and his brother had been separated, each on a separate side of the Gate.

"It's okay," Al said, offering his brother a smile. "Don't be sad Nii-san, we should be happy. We're starting our careers as Shinigami today."

Ed nodded. "And I fully intend to excel at this just so I can have a rematch with that white haired brat and return the favor from yesterday."

Personally Al wasn't so sure that it was a realistic goal however he knew that nothing would dissuade his brother from his chosen path so he chose to say nothing. Wasting his breath wouldn't change anything and he learned a long time ago to not bother. Hopefully his brother would lose the desire to fight Captain Hitsugaya after awhile and embrace his new life as a Shinigami. Al shook his head. "I can hope."

"Come on," Ed said, walking toward the door of their small apartment. "We should probably leave now so that we don't run the risk of being late to class on our first day."

Al nodded. He was just as eager to learn as was his brother and could hardly wait to get started. None of his research in the library had revealed the source of his strange healing powers and the boy was eager to know. Surely someone at the Academy would be able to tell him about it.

* * *

About thirty minutes later it became painfully obvious to the two boys that they were lost inside the Seireitei. At the point where they passed by the same building with the same two Shinigami standing guard outside the two brothers paused to contemplate the situation. Al turned to his older brother and said, "I thought you knew where we were going Nii-san? Didn't Ukitake-san show you the way to the Academy yesterday?"

"He did," Ed said, looking slightly sheepish as he ran a hand through his golden blonde bangs. "I guess I took a wrong turn somewhere or something."

"Ugh," Al groaned, rolling his eyes in the direction of his older brother.

"Hey!" Ed snapped, his golden eyes snapping fire. "If you're so smart then next time you can lead the way."

"Fine," Al said. "Bet I could manage it without getting us lost. And now we're going to be late for class. This is just great."

"Calm down," Ed said as he gazed around his surroundings. "Be quiet for a minute so I can think."

Al glared at his brother but closed his mouth and waited. Ed continued to survey the area and then he turned back to his brother and shrugged. "You know, I really have no idea where we are."

"Nii-san!"

"Oi!" a new voice called out, interrupting Al before he had the chance to yell at his older brother for getting the two of them lost.

The Elric brothers turned toward the sound of the voice and watched as Captain Kurosaki walked toward them, a black-haired woman they didn't know walking at his side.

"What are you guys doing?" Kurosaki asked, one of his eyebrows upraised as he gazed at the two boys.

"We were trying to go to class," Ed replied, gazing at the orange-haired captain. "But. . ."

Al broke in at this point. "But Nii-san got us lost and now we have no idea where we are or how to get to the Academy from here."

The black-haired woman smiled. "We can help you out with that. I know exactly how to get to the Academy from here."

"Thank you um. . ." Al paused as he realized that he didn't know the woman's name. The young boy blushed, slightly embarrassed.

"Oops," Kurosaki said with a grin. "Ed and Al this is my vice-captain and fiancée Rukia Kuchiki. Rukia this is Ed and Al Elric, the two boys from the Rukongai that I told you about."

"Oh," Rukia said, a look of understanding appearing in her violet eyes. "Captain Hitsugaya's new friends."

Kurosaki smirked as a scowl appeared on Ed's face at the mention of the Squad Ten Captain.

"Nice to meet you Kuchiki-san," Al said politely, offering Rukia a smile.

"You too," Rukia said. "Now we should probably get you guys to the Academy before you're late for class."

Both Ed and Al nodded and as Rukia and Kurosaki began walking the two boys fell into step behind them. The group walked in silence for a little while and then Al spoke, breaking the silence. "Um Kurosaki-san, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Kurosaki said.

"What's the Academy like?" Al asked, curiosity and a slight note of apprehension in his voice.

"Um," Kurosaki said, running a hand through his orange hair and further messing it up. "I never actually went to the Academy so I can't really answer that question."

Ed's eyes widened as he heard those words. "You're a captain and you never went to the Academy? How'd you pull that one off, you some kind of genius or something?"

"Far from it," Kurosaki replied, thinking back on everything that he'd endured since becoming a Shinigami. "All of my training was hands on. On the job training if you will."

"Hey maybe we could. . ."

Kurosaki held up his hand, halting the boy's idea before it had time to fully form. "I wouldn't recommend it. That's not the best way to do things by any means. Besides I never did learn kidou."

"You can't use kidou?" Al asked.

Kurosaki shook his head. "Not even the most basic moves." The Squad Five Captain gestured toward Ed. "Hell he's only been in Soul Society for a few days and he can already perform more kidou than I can."

Rukia let out an exasperated sigh at this point in the conversation and glared over at Kurosaki. "I keep telling you that you should at least learn the basics of kidou. I'm sure if you spoke to him about it then Head Captain Ukitake would let you attend some kidou classes at the Academy."

"Like hell I will!" Kurosaki exclaimed, thinking about how much grief the others would give him if he attended classes at the Academy. There was just no way in hell that he would willingly put himself through something like that. Especially not to learn kidou that he wouldn't use even if he knew how.

"But you're a captain," Ed spoke up, a confused expression in his golden eyes. "Don't you want to learn everything that you possibly can?"

"Not really," Kurosaki replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "It's not like I really wanted to be a captain or anything. It was kinda forced on me."

The group lapsed into silence at this point as the two Elrics contemplated the fact that there was actually a Captain class Shinigami who couldn't perform kidou. "Weird," Ed thought to himself, shaking his head. This world that they found themselves in was definitely different than the world from which they came.

"We're here," Rukia announced, breaking into Ed's thoughts on how weird Soul Society was. The golden-haired boy looked up and saw that there were countless people milling about in a large courtyard. They were all dressed similarly to him and Al, the boys wearing blue and white while the girls were dressed in red and white.

"And you're not even late," Rukia said, sounding slightly pleased with herself.

Al turned and bowed to the two Squad Five officers. "Thank you so much for the help."

"You're welcome," Rukia said with a smile. "Good look on your first day."

"Yea," Kurosaki added. "And try not to blow anything up."

And with those final words Kurosaki and Rukia departed, leaving the Elrics alone to face their first day as students of the Shinigami Academy. However as they departed Kurosaki could be heard to mutter, "How do you suppose they got all the way over there? It's like they took directions from Yachiru or something."

"Well come on Al," Ed said as he began walking toward the huge building that was situated across the courtyard.

Al nodded and fell into step beside his brother. Once inside the brothers were directed to join the other first year students and once they were all assembled the group was divided up into two separate classes, the regular and the advanced class.

A somewhat smug expression appeared on Ed's face as he and Al were assigned to the advanced class. "See Al, I knew we were special."

Al didn't look anywhere near as confident as his older brother but nodded all the same.

* * *

Ed and Al spent their morning sitting in class, listening to the teacher drone on and on about various topics, none of which really held the elder brother's interest. _"I've already read about all of this,"_ Ed thought to himself in annoyance as he fought to keep his attention on the teacher.

The golden-haired boy glanced over to the spot where his brother was sitting and he saw that Al had a rapt expression on his face. Apparently his younger brother was having an easier time paying attention to the mindless lecture.

Ed sighed. _"I could handle this a lot better if he'd just talk about something new. Maybe doing all of that research wasn't such a hot idea after all."_

* * *

Much to Ed's delight the second half of the day was dedicated to practical skills, where the students actually got to try out the moves that they learned in class. "Finally," Ed thought to himself as he followed his fellow students out to the training grounds. A row of targets had been set up at the far end of the field and an evil glint appeared in Ed's golden eyes as his gaze fell upon them.

_"This is going to be so easy,"_ Ed thought to himself as the students all lined up to face the targets.

"Alright everyone," the instructor called out, gaining the group's attention. "One at a time I want you to demonstrate kidou." He nodded his head in the direction of the first student in line. "Begin."

As he watched his classmates use Red Flame Cannon Ed debated what he should do when his turn came up. The instructor hadn't said anything about which kidou they were to use and although it was true that Red Flame Cannon was the only kidou attack that he'd actually managed to pull off but it wasn't the only one that he'd learned.

Ed was startled from his thoughts as the instructor called out to him and as he stepped up to the line to take his turn the boy made his decision. _"I'm going to try something different,"_ he thought to himself as he stepped up to the line. _"Red Flame Cannon just reminds me too much of Mustang."_

Al watched as his brother held out his hands and his eyes widened as he listened to the spirit chant that his brother was muttering. This one was different from what the others had used and he was vaguely curious about what he brother was doing.

_"What is he doing?"_ Al thought to himself, his eyes locked onto the form of his older brother.

"Pale Fire Crash!"

A burst of energy resembling a bolt of lightening shot from Ed's hands and Al watched as the target in front of his brother exploded into a million pieces. _"Wow, I can't believe he actually pulled that off."_

"Excellent Elric-kun," the instructor said, nodding his head in approval.

Ed nodded in the teacher's direction, a smug expression on his face. He was finally beginning to get the hang of this kidou stuff. _"Maybe things will start to get more interesting from here on out,"_ the boy thought as he rejoined the others and watched the next student approach the line.

A/N- and thus ends chapter five. Sorry it took so long for the update, hope you enjoyed this chapter. There's a pole on my profile about this story if you'd care to share your input. Your opinion matters. Feel free to review and tell me what you thought about this chapter. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.


	6. Battle Training and a Familiar Face

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Six - Battle Training. . . and a Familiar Face

Life as students of the Shinigami Academy was going fairly well for the Elric brothers and, after a few weeks spent focusing on kidou, the class began to include battle training with wooden swords in their daily lessons. Now Ed had excelled at kidou, after his rather harsh initiation, however soon found out that he wasn't such a natural with a sword. Al, on the other hand, seemed to come into his own when their training branched out. His kidou skills were average at best however he soon proved to be the best in their class at sword play. The class was assembled out in the training grounds, taking turns fighting each other, when the instructor turned to the Elric brothers, who were standing side by side as usual.

"How about brother against brother?" he asked as he stared at Ed and Al.

The assembled students cheered this, seeming to like the idea of sibling versus sibling and the two boys in question nodded and took their places in the center of the battleground. Both Ed and Al raised their wooden swords at the same time and, after a brief pause during which they took a moment to size one another up, they simultaneously launched themselves at one another.

Al was slightly faster on the attack and Ed barely managed to raise his sword in time to block a furious blow from his brother. Knocked slightly off balance by the blow Ed flew backwards a couple of feet and was forced to do a back-flip in order to keep himself from falling on his ass.

"You're good," he muttered as he raised his sword and prepared for a second attack.

"Thanks," Al said as he too raised his sword, more than ready for his brother's attack. Here he was in his element and knew that he actually stood a chance of beating Ed. A smile spread across his face as he blocked Ed's attack and launched one of his own.

"Not exactly sure why I'm surprised by this fact," Ed muttered to himself as he struggled against his younger brother. "You've always been able to kick my ass in a hand to hand fight."

"That's right," Al said as he swung his wooden sword furiously, glad that there was still one thing that he could do better than his older brother.

"Whoa!" Ed exclaimed, barely managing to block the attack with his own sword. "Guess I should probably take this just a little more seriously or else he's going to hurt me."

With this thought in mind Ed focused every scrap of his attention on the battle with his brother but in the end it did him very little good. Al still emerged from the fight victorious, much to the annoyance of his older brother. Ed wasn't used to losing and it irked him to no end to lose to his younger brother.

"I can't believe I lost to you again," Ed exclaimed as he and his brother took their places among the other students and prepared to watch someone else fight. "Why can't I ever win?"

"Cause I'm better than you are," Al said with a smirk, enjoying his brother's frustration. It wasn't often that he was able to best his brother at something so when it did happen he took full advantage of the situation.

Ed narrowed his eyes as he gazed at his younger brother. "You are positively evil."

The smile on Al's face only broadened. "I learned it from the best."

Ed shook his head, completely missing the implications of his brother's words. "I knew I should have kept you away from Mustang. That guy always was bad news."

"Nii-san!"

"What?" Ed asked, a questioning look in his golden eyes. He seemed completely oblivious to the reason why his brother was gazing at him with such a reproachful expression in his gray eyes.

Completely giving up on his older brother Al simply shook his head. "Oh never mind."

* * *

Captain Hitsugaya was sitting at the desk in his office, furiously attempting to catch up on the paperwork that his slacker of a vice-captain had been neglecting for the last month. He had to have all of it completed for the captains' meeting that was being held the next day and was growing slightly frustrated. One of these days he was just going to snap and then. . .

Suddenly there came a knock on the office door which jarred Hitsugaya from his concentration and made him jump slightly. Glancing over at the door with narrowed eyes he snapped, "What?!"

The door slid open and a Shinigami whose name Hitsugaya didn't know stepped inside the office. This particular soldier had only been a member of Squad Ten for a couple of weeks, having transferred from Squad Thirteen, and the young captain couldn't recall his name. "Forgive the intrusion Captain Hitsugaya but I have a message for you from one of the Academy Instructors and she said that it was important."

Hitsugaya gathered two things from this statement from his subordinate; one, Hinamori had some news for him and two she thought it important enough to recruit one of his subordinates to deliver the message to him. Hitsugaya sighed as he stared at the man. Hinamori's news was rarely ever as important as she made it out to be and there was a part of him that just wanted to tell the messenger to go away. The young captain briefly debated this course of action however ultimately decided against it. It wouldn't work anyway. Hinamori would just continue to bother him until he sent a reply so it would just be easier to do that now as opposed to later.

"Let me have the letter," Hitsugaya said, holding out his hand even though he still wasn't sure whether or not he really wanted to know what Hinamori wanted to tell him this time.

The soldier nodded and quickly handed a folded up piece of paper to his superior.

Hitsugaya gazed down at the piece of paper that he held in his hand and saw that Hinamori had sealed it closed with a watermelon sticker. Shaking his head and running a hand through his already unruly white hair Captain Hitsugaya pulled off the sticker and unfolded the note. The young captain's teal eyes quickly scanned the note and he wasn't surprised to find that the important news was far less important than he'd been led to believe.

Why his friend had seen fit to send him a progress report on the boy that he couldn't stand was beyond him. It wasn't exactly a secret that the blonde haired boy from the Rukonai annoyed him to no end so why exactly had Hinamori sent him news that the boy was exceptionally gifted at kidou?

_"What the hell was she thinking?"_ Hitsugaya thought to himself as he pulled a blank piece of paper toward him and hastily drafted a reply. Then, once his brief message was complete, Hitsugaya folded the piece of paper closed and turned his attention back to the soldier who'd delivered the initial message. "Could you take this to Hinamori?"

The soldier nodded, accepting the piece of paper that Hitsugaya held out to him. "Of course Captain." And with that the soldier bowed to Hitsugaya and then left the office.

With a sigh the Squad Ten Captain went back to his paperwork.

As he was walking down the hall away from Captain Hitsugaya's office the soldier ran into Vice-captain Matsumoto, who seemed to be headed toward the office. "I wouldn't go that way if I were you. The captain seems kinda stressed today and I think you may be the cause of it."

Remembering the stack of paperwork that Captain Hitsugaya had been telling her to do for the last two weeks Matsumoto immediately turned around and fell into step beside her subordinate. "Thanks for the warning."

"No problem," the soldier said, chuckling softly to himself. There was one thing to be said for his new squad, things were definetely never boring in Squad Ten.

* * *

After delivering the message from his captain the soldier was returning to the Squad Ten barracks however he drew up short as his gaze fell upon two boys who were walking across the courtyard a few yards ahead of him. "I don't believe it. . ."

The soldier jogged to catch up to the two boys and as he drew closer he saw that his eyes had not been deceiving him. It really was them. "Edward, Alphonse. . ."

The two boys stopped dead in their tracks, not believing their ears. Turning quickly their eyes widened as their shocked gazes fell upon someone they had never thought to see again.

"Hughes!" Edward said, his golden eyes wide in disbelief.

"Hello Ed," Hughes said, smiling at the two boys that he'd sorta adopted as surrogate sons during his life. He hadn't expected to ever see either of them again and found that he was overjoyed to find someone that he'd known in life here in the Seireitei.

Ed smiled back as he surveyed the black uniform that Hughes was wearing. "I see you decided to join the contest of freaks this time Hughes. So which Squad do you belong to?"

"Squad Ten," Hughes replied.

Ed blanched at this knowledge. "You mean you actually have to take orders from that arrogant little. . ."

"You know Edward he's not actually that bad once you get to know him," Hughes said. "Kind of reminds me of you as a matter of fact."

"What?!" Ed exclaimed in a horrified tone of voice. "You've gotta be kidding me. There's no way I'm anything like him."

Al smiled as he listened to his older brother's tirade. So Hughes had picked up on the same similarities between his brother and the young captain that he himself had seen. Al wasn't really surprised by this since Hughes had always been the perceptive one.

"Calm down kid," Hughes said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. Apparently comparing him to Captain Hitsugaya was similar to calling Ed short and elicited the same ill will. "I didn't mean anything by it."

Ed calmed a degree.

"So," Hughes said, endeavoring to change the subject. "How exactly did the two of you end up here in Soul Society?"

Ed blushed at the memory of how he and his brother had died. "I should have listened to Winry when she told me to stay away from technology. It really will kill you, Al and I are proof of that."

Hughes felt for the two boys, he really did. First they had been robbed of their childhood by tragic circumstances and then they had died at such an early age. It wasn't fair but at the same time Hughes was confident that the two brothers would adjust to life in Soul Society and thrive. "Those two are survivors," he thought to himself. "They'll be okay."

TBC. . .

A/N- and thus ends yet another chapter. Yay Hughes. He's such a great character that I couldn't resist adding him to the mix. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and share with me your thoughts. Please. And the poll's still open and I really need help with this one guys. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.


	7. Partners

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Seven - Partners

A couple of years had passed by during which time Ed and Al Elric had made their way through the ranks of the Shinigami Academy. Both brothers had progressed rapidly through their formal training and as a result of their skills they found themselves promoted to fifth year in only two years. This was a great accomplishment for both of them and both brothers were excited because it put them that much closer to graduation.

Not to mention the fact that fifth year was the year when they would undergo the trial to attain their zanpaktou, which both brothers wanted more than anything else at this point.

* * *

As Ed stared down at the blade that he held in his hand he couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed by it. He was not the first one to pass the trial to obtain his zanpaktou and the others had all returned with traditional katanas.

"So of course I had to be the exception to the rule," Ed muttered, feeling slightly cheated.

His hand involuntarily clenched around the hilt of the short sword that he held. "Everyone gets a sword and I get a glorified butcher knife."

_**"I am the embodiment of your heart and soul Edward and my form reflects what you are. . ."**_

Ed's eyes narrowed as he listened to that far off voice that only he could hear. "Did you just call me small?"

_**"No."**_

Ed wasn't sure whether or not he believed the words that were spoken to him by his zanpaktou but realized that there wasn't really anything that he could do about it. He would simply have to resign himself to the sword that he had been given and work hard to unlock it's secrets.

"I guess I'll eventually figure out what powers you possess," Ed muttered as he sheathed the sword and tied it's sheath to the belt of his Academy uniform.

_**"First you must learn my name Edward and then we must truly become partners."**_

"Whatever you say," Ed said as he prepared to return to the small apartment that he shared with his brother in the Squad One barracks. His ordeal to gain his zanpaktou had taken hours and school would have been dismissed quite some time ago so there was no point in returning there. _"It's not like I have any choice in the matter," _he thought to himself as he began to walk away from the spot where he had acquired his zanpaktou.

_**"You must learn patience Edward,"**_ the far off voice of the zanpaktou said in a calm tone. _**"Until you master that you will not be able to harness my powers."**_

"Then I don't have a snowball's chance in hell," Edward muttered as he walked across the Seireitei toward the Squad One barracks. Patience had never, NEVER, been his strong suit and he didn't really foresee that changing, at least not in the near future.

When the young man reached the apartment that he and his brother shared he slid the door open and stepped inside, completely exhausted by the trial. Walking across the room to his bed he collapsed, not even bothering to change out of his school uniform first.

"Are you alright Nii-san?" Al asked from the spot where he was sitting in a chair, reading a kidou text book. He glanced over toward his brother, a concerned expression in his kind gray eyes.

"I'll survive," Ed muttered, too exhausted to even raise up and look over at his brother. "I just need to sleep for about a week."

"So did you get your zanpaktou?" Al asked, a note of curiosity in his voice.

"Yea," Ed replied, his voice devoid of enthusiasm.

"You don't sound happy about it," Al said, his gaze shifting over to the corner where his own sword was propped up against the wall. He had been absolutely ecstatic when he had passed the trial to obtain his zanpaktou and couldn't imagine why his brother wasn't equally excited.

Reaching for the sheathed sword that he was wearing tied to his belt Ed held up the miniscule blade. "This is what I ended up with," he said as he held up his short sword for Al's inspection.

Al immediately clamped his hands over his mouth to prevent the comment that threatened to burst forth. He knew that his brother wasn't in the mood for his teasing and yet he couldn't help but think that the Japanese short sword was perfect for Ed. Not that he would ever dare tell his older brother this thought. He had yet to learn how to call upon the powers of his own zanpaktou and wasn't eager to face his brother in combat. It was true that he was a match for his brother under normal circumstances however any comment on his brother's height would shift the odds decidedly in Ed's favor.

* * *

Several weeks passed, during which the remaining students in Ed and Al's class at the Shinigami Academy underwent the trial to gain their own zanpaktou and then, once everyone had a sword of their own the instructor informed them that they would be taking a trip to the world of the living to battle low level Hollow.

"Alright!" Ed exclaimed when he learned about the training mission. He had been working hard to form the necessary bond with his zanpaktou and couldn't help but think that an actual battle might be just the thing to cement their relationship. He had yet to learn the name of his partner and was anxious to do so since this was necessary for him to unlock the sword's powers. "I can't wait to kick some Hollow ass."

Al shook his head as he gazed over at his brother. "Nii-san, you get excited over the weirdest things."

A cocky grin appeared on the young man's face. "I'm going to show these Shinigami how it's done and then, once I've trained for awhile, that white-haired brat and I are going to have a rematch. And I promise you this time I'll come out on top."

"I think you might be slightly obsessed," Al said in a quiet voice as he listened to his brother's plans to beat the Captain of Squad Ten.

"I'm not obsessed," Ed snapped. "I'm just determined to kick his ass."

Al chose not to comment on that statement but couldn't really see how that was any different than being obsessed.

"Alright everyone," the instructor called out, instantly gaining everyone's attention. "We're going to split up into teams of two and then leave for the world of the living." This said the instructor set about dividing his students and when he came to Ed and Al he automatically paired the two of them together.

"I'll try not to make you look bad," Al said, offering his older brother a wide grin.

Ed merely rolled his eyes. It was obvious by his actions that he didn't consider his younger brother a threat however he didn't verbally reply to the taunt. Instead he gripped the hilt of his zanpaktou, anxious to get to the world of the living and show everyone what he was capable of.

_**"Patience,"**_ the now familiar voice echoed in his head.

"I know, I know," Ed muttered under his breath, releasing his grip on the sword.

"Are you ready?" the instructor called out to his students once everyone had been divided up into their teams.

"Yea!" the group chorused in one voice.

"Excellent," the instructor said, offering the group a wide smile. "Once we arrive in the world of the living make sure that you look out for your partner and remain within the boundaries of the exercise. The Hollow in this area are all low level and you shouldn't have any problems defeating them. This training mission is meant to help you form a bond with your new partner."

"Right," the students said, nodding to show that they had heard his instructions.

"Let's go."

The group of students feel into step behind their instructor, who led the way toward a Senkaimon that had been set up for their trip to the world of the living. The instructor led the group through the gate and then, once they arrived at the area where they would be fighting the Hollow, he gave them each a small area to patrol and left them to it.

"Come on Al," Ed said as he pulled his zanpaktou from it's sheath.

"Right," Al said, drawing his own sword as he fell into step behind his older brother. The two of them might enjoy giving one another a hard time from time to time however both were all business in situations such as this. The siblings wandered through the seemingly deserted streets, keeping an eye out for any signs of the Hollow that they knew were there.

"Do you feel that Al?" Ed asked as he felt a somewhat familiar energy cut through the air.

Al nodded as he raised his sword to the ready position.

In a split second a piercing scream cut through the air and the Elric siblings' gazes immediately fell upon a huge beast with a white mask covering it's face. Although they had never seen a real one the brothers knew this to be a Hollow and they immediately rushed to attack it.

"This is what we've been training for," Al thought to himself as he swung his sword in the direction of the Hollow's mask. He knew that cutting the mask in half was the only way to kill the Hollow and was determined to destroy the beast and prove that he could be a Shinigami.

Ed was on the same page as his brother however his thoughts soon shifted to a second, smaller enemy. This one appeared to be almost human and the only way Ed could identify it as a Hollow was by the slightly broken mask that it wore on half of it's face. "What the hell is up with that?" he thought to himself as he turned his attention toward the newcomer. "Al can you handle that one?"

"I've got it under control," Al called out, also having noticed the second enemy.

Ed nodded in his brother's direction and then dashed toward the new enemy. Holding up his zanpaktou the Shinigami in training swung the blade in the direction of the enemy however the Hollow dodged the blow with lightening speed.

Ed managed to dodge the Hollow's first attack and he swung his sword in the direction of his enemies head. The beast effortlessly dodged the attack and then aimed yet another blow at his opponent, this time catching Ed before he managed to dodge in time and raking his claws across the flesh of his upper left arm.

Ed hissed as he felt the white-hot pain caused by the Hollow's claws and he narrowed his eyes in anger. There was no way that he was going to lose the battle to this beast and he held up his sword and swung the blade in the direction of the Hollow's legs. His thinking being that if he could wound the beast then it would be easier for him to kill it.

This time his blade made contact and the beast howled his outrage, swinging his claws wildly.

"Damn," Ed muttered under his breath as he jumped back away from the enemy. He was surprised by it's speed, having been told that the enemies they would be facing would all be low level. "If this is low level then I'd hate to see high level."

Ed's thoughts were interrupted at this point as the Hollow leapt toward him, it's claws held out and aiming for his throat. "Not good," he muttered as he used the blade of his zanpaktou to block the attack from the Hollow. "Okay sword," he said as he attacked the Hollow. "I know that you said I had to learn patience but I think that if this thing kills me that will be kinda hard to do. So if you could help out with this situation I would really appreciate it."

_**"You're right. Call out to me and I can help you. I am the embodiment of your heart and soul and my name is Hikari no Shinjitsu."**_

Grateful that his zanpaktou had chosen to help him Ed instinctively tossed the blade into the air, clasped his hands together as if he were using his alchemy and called out, "Shine the light of truth on my enemies Hikari no Shinjitsu!"

Ed watched as a light enveloped the sword as it however in mid-air, transforming it into a staff. The staff fell back to earth and Ed caught it and twirled it in his hand. It was eerily similar to a staff that he had once constructed using his alchemy, complete with a blade at the end. "Now this is more like it," Ed said as he turned back to face his enemy. "Now you're ass is mine."

The Hollow looked completely unconcerned, almost bored, as it stared at the weapon that Ed now held in his hand. It was obvious by his demeanor that he didn't view the Shinigami in training as much of a threat and there was a malevolent gleam in his eyes as he held up his claws and prepared for yet another attack.

"I think not," Ed muttered as he dodged this second attack from his enemy. Doing a back flip in mid-air the young man landed behind his enemy, swinging his zanpaktou as he hit the ground. The blade at the end of the staff cut a wide streak across the Hollow's back and the beast cried out in pain and whirled around to face his assailant.

"Wrong move," Ed said as he used his blade to slice the mask as the Hollow turned to face him.

"Elric!" a voice called out as Ed watched the Hollow disintegrate. The young man turned and watched as his instructor and several other black-clad Shinigami ran toward him. "We felt the reiatsu of an Arrancar," the instructor said as he locked his gaze on Ed.

"Arrancar?" Ed repeated.

"They're an upgraded form of Hollow," Al said as he too came to stand beside his brother. "They result when a Hollow breaks their own mask."

"So that's what was up with that guy," Ed said, placing his hand on the wound that he had received in his battle. "I was wondering why he was so hard to kill."

"You fought it Nii-san?" Al asked, his eyes wide.

Ed nodded. "And I would have lost to it but I learned the name of my zanpaktou and was thus able to call upon it's powers." Ed held up the staff that was his zanpaktou's Shikai form and nodded his head. "Thank you Hikari no Shinjitsu."

_**"You're welcome," **_the now familiar voice said.

"I knew that you were going to be great," the instructor said, placing his hand on Ed's uninjured shoulder. "But now I think that you should return to Soul Society and let Squad Four tend to your wounds."

Ed nodded and followed one of the unknown Shinigami toward a Senkaimon, with Al tagging along at his side. He was extremely proud that he had learned to call upon his zanpaktou's Shikai and yet he knew that this was far from the end of his training. His next goal was Bankai.

"I WILL get stronger," he thought to himself as he stepped through the Senkaimon.

* * *

"Toushirou!" a voice called out, breaking into Captain Hitsugaya's thoughts. The young captain glanced up and watched through narrowed eyes as Hinamori stepped inside his office and walked toward his desk. "Captain Hitsugaya," he corrected automatically as his childhood friend came to a stop in front of his desk.

Hinamori was completely unphased by the correction and she stared at Hitsugaya. "Did you hear what happened in the world of the living today?"

"No," Hitsugaya said, knowing that if he hadn't heard about it then it didn't concern him and therefore he didn't really care.

"That Academy student, Edward Elric, fought against an Arrancar and won," Hinamori said in an excited voice. "The students went to the world of the living to fight against low level Hollow but somehow an Arrancar managed to make it past the barrier. Edward fought against it and won, unleashing his zanpaktou's Shikai for the first time. Isn't that amazing?"

Hitsugaya shrugged, still unsure why Hinamori insisted upon talking to him about the student that he couldn't stand. Honestly he would never understand the inner workings of Hinamori's mind. "Why does she do this to me?"

"Better watch out Toushirou," Hinamori said in a sing-songy voice. "I hear that his goal in life is to beat you in battle."

"Yea right," Hitsugaya said, his tone cold. "And then he wakes up."

Hinamori offered her friend a smile and then abruptly left the office.

Hitsugaya shook his head and then went back to his work. If that blonde-haired menace wanted to waste his time training to beat him in battle Hitsugaya really couldn't care less but it was a waste of time. "There's no way that I'll ever lose to him."

A/N - I am SO sorry that this update took so long but I've been working on other things. But people keep adding it to their favorites so I thought that I should probably update, so here you go. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and let me know what you thought. And assuming I got the translation right the name of Ed's zanpaktou is supposed to be Light of Truth. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.


	8. Becoming a Team

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach, just borrowing the characters for my own amusement.

Chapter Eight - Becoming a Team

Maes Hughes had a couple of hours to kill before he was scheduled for guard duty and he decided that he wanted to go and visit Ed and Al. He'd heard a couple of pieces of information that he found extremely interesting and he wanted to talk to the two boys. It was approaching early evening so the chances were good that the two boys would still be hanging close to the Academy grounds. With this thought in mind Hughes left the Squad Ten barracks and made his way across the Seireitei toward the Shinigami Academy.

As he approached the building Hughes was pleased to see Ed out in the courtyard, sitting underneath a large tree with his nose buried in a book. A smile appeared on his face as the older man quickened his pace, anxious for a chance to pick on his surrogate son.

"So Edward," Hughes called out as he casually made his way across the courtyard of the Shinigami Academy. "I heard that you got your zanpaktou."

Ed put down the book on advanced kidou that he had been reading and glanced up as the familiar voice called out to him. A smile slowly spread across his face as he watched Hughes approach. "Hey Hughes. Yea, I guess you could say I got my zanpaktou."

"You guess," Hughes said as he sat down beside Ed under the large tree. "What's that supposed to mean?"

In answer to the question Ed pulled his still sheathed sword from his belt and held it up for his friend's inspection. "If you so much as smirk I swear I'll kill you."

"I don't see anything funny about it Edward," Hughes said, miraculously managing to maintain a straight face and thus proving himself to still be the master of diplomacy."

"Uh huh," Ed said, not sure whether he truly believed Hughes' words.

"So how's your training going?" Hughes asked, seeking to divert the boy's attention away from the size of his zanpaktou.

"Alright I guess," Ed replied after a moment's thought, placing his sheathed sword back in the belt of his uniform. "I've managed to learn the name of my sword and I managed Shikai once but now my zanpaktou has turned stubborn. I think the only reason he relented the last time was because my life depended upon it."

"I see," Hughes said, a thoughtful expression in his kind eyes. "Well I'm sure you don't wanna hear this Ed but that's actually fairly typical for a zanpaktou. The vast majority of them are rebellious. That's why you have to work so hard at becoming a team."

"That's what my teacher says," Ed told his friend grudgingly. "But what can I say, patience has never been my strong suit."

Ed paused as he recalled Hikari no Shinjitsu's words to him. _**"You must learn patience Edward. Until you master that you will not be able to harness my powers."**_

"Dammit," the boy thought to himself as he recalled the words of his zanpaktou. _"That smug bastard was right."_

"Nii-san," a voice called out from across the courtyard, interrupting Ed's thoughts. Both Ed and Hughes glanced up at the sound of the voice and their eyes focused on Al as he walked across the courtyard toward the spot where they were sitting.

"Hey Hughes," the young boy said as he came to a stop in front of them.

Hughes raised his hand in greeting. "Hey Alphonse. So where have you been? You should know better than to leave your brother unsupervised. He tends to get into trouble."

"I know," Al said as his older brother glared daggers at their former father figure. "We went to the library together after we got out of class but Ed decided to ditch me after he found the book that he wanted. Unfortunately my book was a little harder to find." As he spoke Al held up a thick, leather bound book.

Hughes noticed that Al's book was also about advanced kidou techniques and he raised one eyebrow. "Are you boys doing some research?"

"You could say that," Ed replied in a quiet voice.

Hughes thought that the boy's answer seemed somewhat evasive however he didn't have time to further pursue the matter. It was almost time for him to take his turn at guard duty so he had to report back to Squad Ten and prepare. Getting to his feet Hughes turned back to face Ed. "I'll catch you boys later. I have to get back to work."

Ed gave his friend a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry."

Hughes shook his head. "I keep telling you that he's not that bad."

"See ya," Ed and Al called out in unison as Hughes turned and walked away. Then, once the older Shinigami was out of earshot, Al turned back to his brother, a slightly guilty expression in his eyes. "Are you sure keeping your theory a secret from him is a good idea? I mean I know you said that we shouldn't tell anyone but come on Ed, it's Hughes."

"We can't tell anyone," Ed told his brother, his tone firm. "At least not until I know whether or not my theory has any basis. Not until I know if it's even possible."

Al still didn't look convinced however he didn't press the matter further. The look in Ed's golden eyes was very familiar and Al knew from experience that arguing would be pointless.

"Come on Al," Ed said suddenly, closing his book and getting to his feet. "It's getting late and I still want to get in some training before dark."

Ed had been training like a man possessed ever since his close encounter with the Arrancar and Al was becoming somewhat concerned about him. "You know Nii-san, I don't think it would kill you to miss a day. You shouldn't push yourself so hard."

Ed shrugged as he began walking toward the Squad One barracks. He had been working extremely hard, throwing himself completely into his training, but he really couldn't help it. That was just the way that he did things, the way that he had always done things.

Shaking his head and completely exasperated by his brother's behavior, Al fell into step behind Ed. _"Why doesn't he ever listen to me?"_ the younger boy thought to himself as he and his sibling made their way toward the Squad One complex. Unfortunately, as always, the answer to that particular question, eluded him.

* * *

"So how are things going in Squad Ten Toushirou?" Head Captain Ukitake asked the white-haired boy who was sitting across from him. The two of them were sitting in Ukitake's office, on the sofa that was situated in the center of the room, and both held steaming cups of tea.

"Fine," Hitsugaya replied as he met the Head Captain's gaze levelly. "I finally managed to get my paperwork caught up."

"Well that's good," Ukitake said, offering the boy a wide smile.

Hitsugaya took a sip of tea and then placed his cup on the low table that was positioned in front of the sofa. Turning his gaze back to Ukitake the young captain asked, "So what's the real reason why you summoned me here? I know it wasn't to make forced small talk."

_"Always to the point,"_ Ukitake thought to himself as he offered the young captain another wide smile. "I actually did have something important to discuss with you Toushirou but since it pertains to a certain person that I know you're not particularly fond of I thought it would be best if I tried a little bit of bribery first."

Hitsugaya eyed the older captain warily as he thought to himself, _"If he pulls candy out of his sleeve again so help me. . ."_

"I realize that you and Edward got off to a bad start when he first showed up here in Soul Society," Ukitake began, breaking into Hitsugaya's thoughts. "But I'd like for you to put your differences aside for a little while and train with him."

Hitsugaya's teal eyes widened as he heard that request from his superior. Train with that obnoxious blonde-haired menace? What could he possibly have done to warrant such a punishment?

"I can tell by the look in your eyes that you don't want to," Ukitake said, the tone of his voice understanding. "But please at least give it a chance. I think that Edward would progress much faster if he were pushed a little harder."

"But surely I'm not the only one capable of pushing him," Hitsugaya said. "I mean you have eleven other captains to choose from, not to mention vice-captains and any number of other people."

"I know," Ukitake said. "But he's already proven that he improves by leaps and bounds when he fights with you. Apparently his dislike for you equals your dislike for him and he seems to have made it his goal in life to defeat you."

Hitsugaya nodded absently, knowing that Ukitake was right. Edward had said that he was going to beat him even if it was the last thing that he ever did and although Hitsugaya didn't see it happening any time soon he couldn't deny that the Academy student's powers would more than likely increase more rapidly if the two of them were to begin sparing. With a weary sigh Hitsugaya nodded his head in agreement. It wasn't something that he wanted to do, nor would he enjoy being forced to spend time with the obnoxious Academy student, but he wouldn't deny his superior's request. He had too much respect for the man to flat out say no. "Very well."

"Thank you Toushirou," Ukitake said, knowing how much the Squad Ten Captain had wanted to say no and appreciating the fact that he hadn't. "I'll get back to you on the exact details of these training sessions but I plan on starting them in a couple of weeks."

Hitsugaya nodded, to show that he'd heard Ukitake's words. "Well at least I have a couple of weeks to prepare for the torture. That's something I guess." Snapping out of his thoughts Hitsugaya suddenly remembered that he had work to do. The Squad Ten Captain turned his attention once more to Ukitake. "Thanks for the tea Head Captain Ukitake but I should probably get back to work. I left Matsumoto in charge of Squad Ten."

The young captain didn't say anything further on the subject, not that he needed to. Ukitake was well aware of how much the Squad Ten vice-captain loathed paperwork. "Thank you for coming."

Hitsugaya bowed to his superior and then turned and made a hasty retreat before the Head Captain managed to talk him into something else that he didn't want to do.

_"I can't believe he actually agreed to that,"_ Ukitake thought to himself as he watched the diminutive white-haired captain walk away. _"I can honestly say that I didn't see that one coming."_

* * *

When the Elric brothers arrived at the Squad One training grounds, which Head Captain Ukitake had given them permission to use whenever they wanted to, they took their usual positions. Al sat down at the edge of the battlefield, to read his book, while Ed went to the center and prepared to do battle with his zanpaktou once again.

"Alright you," Ed muttered under his breath as he pulled the short sword from the sheath that he wore secured at his waist. "Could you try to be a little friendlier this time?"

_**"Oh I don't know,"**_ the far off voice that only Ed could hear called out tauntingly. _**"Could you try not to suck so bad?"**_

Ed clenched his hand around the hilt of his zanpaktou, angered by the taunt. His sword kept telling him that he had to learn patience but then deliberately said things to provoke him. "I'm not gonna let him piss me off this time," Ed thought to himself as he fought to control his anger.

_**"Yes you will,"**_ Hikari no Shinjitsu predicted.

Ed's eyes narrowed however he chose not to further argue with his zanpaktou. It wouldn't make a difference anyway and Ed was determined to continue with his training and work on becoming Hikari no Shinjitsu's partner, no matter how long and how much work it took.

Al could tell by the expression on his brother's face that Ed was fighting hard to control his anger and could only guess that the older boy's zanpaktou was once again giving him a hard time. _"Poor Nii-san,"_ he thought to himself. _"Leave it to Ed to get a zanpaktou with an attitude problem. It really is the embodiment of his heart and soul."_

As he thought this Al's hand instinctively went to the hilt of his own zanpaktou. He still wasn't sure how he felt about it's powers and hadn't revealed them to anyone. Not even his brother. _"I'll show him eventually,"_ the younger boy vowed. _"Just as soon as I understand it myself."_

A/N - and thus ends another chapter. This one brought up more questions than it answered. Sorry about that but that's just how it ended up. Answers will be revealed sooner or later. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and tell me what you thought. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.


	9. Unwanted Training

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach, I'm merely having a little fun with the characters.

Chapter Nine - Unwanted Training

Once class at the Academy had been dismissed Ed quickly made his way to the Squad One barracks, accompanied as always by his younger brother Al. Head Captain Ukitake had mentioned something about a new kind of training when he'd issued the summons however the old, white haired captain hadn't given him any of the details and Ed found that he was somewhat excited despite himself. His growing powers were fascinating to the blonde haired youth and anything that might help him master said powers was welcome.

Or at least that's what Ed thought until he actually reached the Squad One courtyard and saw who it was that was standing beside Ukitake. Ed cursed under his breath as his golden eyed gaze fell upon the young Captain of Squad Ten. "Dammit, what the hell did I ever do to deserve this?" he muttered under his breath as he and Al made their way toward the two captains. The white haired youth had been his unofficial rival since the day they had met and Ed had to fight the desire to turn around and leave Squad One.

Forcing himself to refrain from reciting a list of possibilities Al merely followed his brother silently across the courtyard. He could list a half a dozen things since they had arrived in Soul Society alone that could have caused this karma however he chose not to tell that to his older brother.

"Welcome Elric-kun," Ukitake called out once the two boys were within earshot. He offered both boys a wide smile however his gaze remained locked on the elder of the two. "And I see that you brought your zanpaktou, excellent."

"So what exactly is going on old man?" Ed asked as he fixed Hitsugaya with a narrow eyed gaze that the young captain returned.

"I heard about the battle with the Arrancar," Ukitake said. "And about how you managed to use Shikai to defeat it but your instructors say that you haven't been able to call upon those powers since that day."

"That's right," Ed said, somewhat embarrassed by this fact but still not willing to deny it. He was many things but a liar was not one of them. "For some reason I can't explain I ended up with a stubborn zanpaktou and he refuses to let me use Shikai now."

_"Gee Nii-san, you don't think that it might have something to do with your own stubborn personality?"_ Al thought to himself, amazed that Ed was actually surprised that his zanpaktou had a stubborn streak a mile long.

Ukitake nodded, already aware of the situation between the young man and his sword. "That can happen sometimes. In the eyes of your zanpaktou you were not ready to wield the power of Shikai yet when your life was in jeopardy he had no choice but to relent and lend you those powers." Ukitake paused at this point and fixed Ed with an intense look. "You seem to control your powers better in a battle environment which is why I have enlisted the help of a couple of members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. I know that you can progress much faster than you are currently and wanted to help you out a little bit."

Ed nodded as his gaze shifted from the Head Captain to Hitsugaya. "Is that why HE'S here?"

"Captain Hitsugaya has graciously agreed to be one of the people who help with your training," Head Captain Ukitake said.

There was a smug expression on Hitsugaya's face, as though he were thinking that Ed didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell against him, and Ed found himself annoyed with the look. Drawing his zanpaktou from the sheath that he wore secured to his sash he locked the Squad Ten Captain with an intense gaze. "Alright then, if you really want to help with my 'training' then let's get on with it."

Shaking his head at the blonde haired menace Hitsugaya took a couple of steps away from the Head Captain and drew his own zanpaktou from the sheath that he always wore secured across his back. If his opponent was really so eager to be defeated in battle, again, then who was he to deny him that wish? The two boys stood a couple of yards apart, each holding out their zanpaktou and glaring at the other.

Ed's gaze shifted back and forth between his miniature blade and his opponent, as though just waiting for Hitsugaya to make a comment about it's size. That was one thing that he didn't have to worry about however since Hitsugaya knew that size had nothing to do with power and that a skilled Shinigami could actually control the size of their sword, based on how much reiatsu they chose to release. He said none of this to his opponent however but instead merely stared at the boy calmly.

For some unknown reason that just made Ed angrier. "You ready?"

Without a word Hitsugaya nodded.

Al moved to stand beside Head Captain Ukitake and watched as his brother ran recklessly toward the white haired Captain of Squad Ten. The younger boy shook his head. "He has got to learn some strategy," he muttered to himself as Hitsugaya effortlessly blocked the obvious attack, knocking Ed back a couple of feet. The attack hadn't even made Hitsugaya take a step back.

_**"Patience," **_a familiar voice barked as Ed fought to regain his balance.

"I know," Ed snarled, sick of hearing that word from his zanpaktou. Holding up the short blade he said, "Are you going to cooperate today or are you going to let me fall at the hands of this brat?"

_**"We'll see," **_was the only reply that he received.

"We'll see he says," Ed repeated as he jumped toward Hitsugaya and swung his blade, his voice filled with disgust.

Unfortunately for Ed Hitsugaya had been well within hearing range and as a result had heard every word that the blonde boy had said to his zanpaktou. "So I'm a brat am I?" he asked as he pointed the tip of his blade toward the sky.

"Uh oh," Al said as he watched the scene that was unfolding before his eyes. His brother had done it again, said the wrong thing, and now it looked as though there would be hell to pay for it this time.

"Remember, you're the one who asked for this," Hitsugaya said in a low, deadly tone of voice. "Reign over the frosted, frozen sky, Hyourinmaru!"

Ed's eyes widened as he watched a form emerged from the tip of Hitsugaya's zanpaktou. The sky overhead, which had been a vibrant blue mere seconds before, now turned dark as a blue dragon shot up into the air and circled above the spot where Hitsugaya stood. "Shit," he muttered as he witnessed Hitsugaya unleash his Shikai.

Al's eyes widened and he made a move to walk toward the two combatants however he was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder. Looking back his gray eyed gaze met the kind eyes of Ukitake. "Don't worry," the old captain said in a soothing voice. "Toushirou may sound angry but I promise you he will hold his temper in check. That's part of the reason why I chose him for this job. His dedication to his duty is unrivaled in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads."

There was still a look of concern in Al's gray eyes as his gaze returned to his brother however Ukitake had never given the two of them any reason not to trust him so he remained where he was. Watching but not interfering.

Ed stood transfixed as Hitsugaya swung his long blade in an arc in front of him. He had never seen an attack like this and he seemed paralyzed before it.

"Nii-san!"

Al's shouts broke through the trance that had seemed to hold Ed paralyzed.

"It's just a thought," Al shouted at his brother as he watched the dragon of ice and water that was flying toward Ed. "But you might wanna, oh I don't know, GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Instantly deciding that his brother was correct Ed managed to dodge the incoming attack mere seconds before it hit the ground where he had been standing. Completely unphased by the fact that his attack had missed it's intended target Hitsugaya raised his blade and prepared for a second attack. Once again swinging the sword in an arc above his head the young captain directed the dragon toward Ed's new location.

"You have got to be kidding me," Ed muttered as he once again barely managed to dodge the attack. "Yo, Hikari no Shinjitsu, do you think you could maybe get off your ass and help me? Or would you rather see me die?"

_**"He isn't going to kill you," **_the far off voice said in it's usual, arrogant tone. _**"But this is just embarrassing so yea I'm going to help you."**_

"Thanks, you're too kind," Ed said somewhat sarcastically as he raised his sword and called out, "Shine the light of truth upon my enemies, Hikari no Shinjitsu!"

Hitsugaya watched as Ed tossed his zanpaktou into the air and clasped his hands together. A bright golden aura surrounded the blade and when it fell back into Ed's ready hands the young captain saw that it was now in the form of a staff, complete with a blade at the end. "So you can do Shikai after all. That's good to know, I was ready to call a couple of people a liar."

"Why you. . ." Ed muttered, his hands clenching around his zanpaktou.

A tight smile appeared on Hitsugaya's face as Ed once again ran toward him. He may be able to use his Shikai however his battle tactics were still sadly lacking and Hitsugaya knew that it would take a great deal of progress before the boy was a worthy opponent. Swinging Hyourinmaru in an arc in front of him Hitsugaya prepared for Ed's pending attack.

* * *

Ichigo and Rukia were walking through the Seireitei, hand in hand, when the orange haired Substitute Shinigami suddenly came to an abrupt halt. Rukia gazed up into his brown eyes and noticed the rare, serious expression that was held within their depths.

"Looks like they're at it again," Ichigo finally muttered, his gaze focused in the direction of the Squad One complex. After a brief moment of thought Ichigo grabbed Rukia by the hand. "Come on Rukia, you have GOT to see this!"

"What?!" Rukia exclaimed as Ichigo began pulling her in the direction of Squad One. "What is going on Ichigo?"

"Toushirou and Edward are at it again," Ichigo said, recognizing both distinct sets of reiatsu and knowing what that meant. "Trust me, you don't wanna miss this."

Giving up Rukia allowed Ichigo to pull her toward the Squad One barracks and, once there, the two of them entered the courtyard. Sure enough there was Captain Hitsugaya, along with the blonde haired Academy student, both with swords drawn. Making sure to keep to the edge of the battlefield Ichigo led the way over to the spot where Ukitake was standing with Ed's younger brother.

"Hello Captain Kurosaki," Al said politely.

Ichigo nodded in Al's direction before turning his attention to Ukitake. "So what's going on Ukitake? Are you determined to put those two together until Toushirou kills him or what?"

Ukitake shook his head. "Toushirou isn't going to kill him. I've discovered that like you Edward's powers seem to develop faster if he's in danger and while this isn't going to cost him his life it is possible that he could get injured. Or at least that's what I want him to think."

Ichigo smiled. "That's very manipulative. Congrats old man, I didn't think you had it in you."

Despite himself Hitsugaya was forced to admit that Ed had some fairly impressive powers, for an Academy student at any rate, however he was still no match for Hyourinmaru and the young captain felt the need to prove this fact. The white-haired youth leapt into the air and then launched himself toward the ground, holding the tip of his zanpaktou pointed toward the ground. Hitsugaya buried the tip of his zanpaktou into the ground and then released a burst of reiatsu.

Wondering exactly what it was that Hitsugaya was doing Ed watched the young captain and his golden eyes widened in surprise as he watched shards of ice erupt from the ground. "Shit!" he exclaimed as he raised his staff, knowing that he couldn't block all of the shards, there were simply too many of them.

Twirling his staff Ed managed to block a large quantity of ice shards however when the attack ceased he found himself lying on the ground with the tip of a sword pointed toward his throat. "Submit," Hitsugaya said in a quiet and yet at the same time commanding voice.

That was the last thing on earth that Ed wanted to do and yet at the same time he knew that he didn't really have a choice in the matter. He was defeated and he knew it, he just didn't want to admit to that fact. "Fine," he said finally, almost choking on the words. "You win."

With a smirk on his face Hitsugaya sheathed his zanpaktou and walked away from his opponent. Ed got to his feet and sheathed his now transformed zanpaktou before following the path that the young captain had taken, coming to stand beside his brother.

"With more practice you may actually prove to be a worthy opponent some day," Hitsugaya said in a gruff voice before he turned and walked away.

Ed clenched his hands into fists however both Ichigo and Ukitake watched the Squad Ten Captain's retreating back, their eyes and their mouths both open in amazement.

"I swear one of these days I'm going to knock that smug look off his face," Ed muttered, using a threat that was by now familiar to everyone who knew him.

"You shouldn't be that way," Ichigo said, turning his gaze to Ed. "What he said to you was actually high praise coming from him."

A confused expression on his face Ed turned his gaze back in the direction that Hitsugaya had walked off in however he was already out of sight. Had he really meant those words as a compliment and not a taunt? Ed just didn't know.

A/N - I'm sorry that it took so long to update this but things have been rough and my typing is slow. Hope you enjoyed, please review and tell me your thoughts. And I promise that I will eventually reveal the powers of Al's zanpaktou. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.


	10. Graduation and Assignments

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach. just having a little fun with the characters

Chapter Ten - Graduation and Assignments

Ed and Al had managed to complete the course requirements of the Shinigami in less than three years and today was the day that both had been waiting for since they entered training to become Shinigami. It was graduation day and the boys couldn't help but feel excited. After today they would be full fledged Shinigami and would find out which squad they would be assigned to.

"So Al," Ed said as the two of them made their way toward the Academy for the last time as students. "Which squad do you think we'll be assigned to?"

"Well," Al said as he gazed over at his older brother. "With my powers being what they are I think it's a pretty safe bet that they're going to put me in Squad Four. As for you, I think you'll probably end up in Squad Ten." Mentally Al counted to five before. . .

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! THERE IS NO WAY IN ALL THE SEVEN HELLS THAT I'M GOING TO END UP UNDER THE COMMAND OF THAT LITTLE. . ."

"You should probably quit while you're ahead Edward," a calm voice called out.

"Hey Hughes," Al said as the older man came to a stop in front of them.

Ed was still glaring over what his brother had said however he did managed to wave to Hughes. He didn't trust himself to speak at the present moment so the gesture of greeting was all that he felt comfortable in doing.

"It won't be so bad if you end up in Squad Ten," Hughes said, placing a hand on the younger man's shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"The hell you say," Ed exclaimed, shattering the silence. "There is no way that I am going to end up under the command of that arrogant little. . ."

"Alright," Hughes said, holding up his hand to cut off Ed's words before he said something bad.

"So Hughes," Al said, seeking to change the topic of conversation before things got out of hand. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on my way to watch the ceremony," Hughes replied, offering the two boys a broad smile. "You didn't think I'd miss the graduation of my two surrogate sons now did you?"

Al smiled.

"And Ed," Hughes said. "Just so you know, the Captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads are all going to be there, including Captain Hitsugaya, so you should probably be on your best behavior." And yet even as he said this Hughes instinctively knew that Ed wouldn't listen.

"Yea, yea," Ed said as the trio made their way toward the Academy.

* * *

Graduation was over and now all of the students held envelopes in their hands. They had been informed that the envelopes contained their squad assignments and it appeared as though most of the students were afraid to open them. Instead they all stood around and stared blankly at the small envelopes.

"Well Ed," Al said as he held his envelope up. "Should we look at them and see which squads we now belong to?"

Ed nodded.

"Together?" Al suggested.

Ed nodded once more and together the two brothers opened the envelopes that they held in their hands and pulled out the small pieces of white paper that were contained within. In unison they unfolded the papers and gazed down at the writing.

"Squad Four," Al said, holding up his slip of paper.

Seeming not to have heard the words of his brother Ed merely continued to stare down at the piece of paper that was gripped tightly in his hand.

"Nii-san?" Al said, gazing at his brother. "Is it. . ."

"Squad Five!" Ed suddenly burst out, jumping up into the air with the fist that contained the slip of paper held high.

"Isn't that. . ."

"Captain Kurosaki's squad," a familiar voice called out. "Why you lucky little. . ."

"Hey Hughes," Ed said, all of his concerns for his future now put at ease. He turned to face his former mentor, a wide smile on his face. "So can you believe my luck?"

"No I can't," Hughes said, thinking about the orange haired Captain of Squad Five. Leave it to Ed to get assigned to the squad of the most lenient captain in all of Soul Society. The boy definitely had a lucky streak.

"Well," Al said as he placed the piece of paper bearing his squad assignment in the fold of his shirt. "We're supposed to report to our assigned squad and meet with our captain."

"Right," Ed said.

"Well good luck boys." Hughes said as he turned to leave. "I have some work to do but I'll see you guys later. I owe you a celebration dinner."

"Alright," the Elric brothers said in unison.

* * *

The two brothers walked together until they reached the Squad Four barracks and then Ed waved to his younger brother. "Good luck Al. Don't worry, I hear Captain Unohana is really easy to get along with. And with your skills you'll do fine."

Al nodded and slowly made his way toward the front entrance of the Squad Four barracks. His brother had told him that everything would be alright and yet he was still nervous. He had proven adept at healing kidou which was more than likely why he'd been placed in Squad Four however that wasn't all that he was capable of. His zanpaktou had some very unique abilities however he refused to reveal what those were before he had gained more control over them.

"I'll just have to fit in for now," he thought to himself as he made his way down the hall toward the office of Captain Unohana. Then, when he reached the office, he knocked lightly on the door before stepping back a couple of steps.

"Come in," a quiet voice called out.

Al slid the door open and stepped inside the office, closing the door behind himself. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves the young man walked toward the desk where his new commanding officer was seated. "Alphonse Elric reporting ma'am. I'm a new member of your squad."

Captain Unohana smiled kindly at the young boy. "Welcome Alphonse. Everything has been prepared for your arrival here." Glancing toward a second woman, who was seated at a desk on the other side of the room the Squad Four Captain said, "My vice-captain Isane Kotetsu will show you to your new quarters. Your uniforms have been provided and in a couple of days we'll test you to see which rank you'll hold within the squad."

"Yes ma'am," Alphonse said.

* * *

After leaving his brother at Squad Four Ed continued on to the next barracks in the row. He was happy about his appointment to Squad Five and relieved that he hadn't ended up in Squad Ten, which had been his fear. The young man wouldn't put it past the higher ups sticking him in Hitsugaya's squad just because they knew that they didn't get along.

"I guess they didn't need something to laugh at," Ed muttered to himself as he entered the Squad Five barracks.

"Welcome to Squad Five!"

Ed looked up and saw Ichigo Kurosaki walking toward him, followed by Rukia. "Hello Captain. . ."

Ichigo held up his hand. "You really don't have to be so formal around here. I'm not big on formalities so I don't expect my subordinates to be. It's just the way I work."

Ed smiled. "I'll try to keep that in mind."

"Come with me and I'll show you to your new quarters," Ichigo said. "You can have the rest of the day off and then you'll take the test to see where you rank."

Ed nodded and fell into step behind his new captain and vice-captain. Ichigo led the way down a series of corridors and then came to a stop in front of a closed door. "Welcome to your humble abode. Rest up and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks Captain. . ."

"Oi!"

Shocked by the shout Ed ran a hand over the back of his golden blonde hair. "Sorry. Thanks Ichigo-san."

Ichigo sighed. "I guess that'll do."

Rukia laughed as she followed Ichigo down the corridor, leaving Ed alone in front of his new quarters. The young Shinigami opened the door and stepped into the sparsely furnished room. Closing the door behind himself he walked across the room and sat down on the bed.

"We're now official Shinigami," Ed thought to himself as he lay down on the bed and placed his clasped hands behind his head. "Let's see what kind of trouble we can get into now."

A/N - sorry to all those who wanted it but I just couldn't bring myself to put Ed in Squad Ten because then I'd be writing nothing but arguments between him and Hitsugaya. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and tell me what you thought. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.


	11. Research Resumed

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Eleven - Research Resumed

It was the end of his first day as official members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads and Ed decided to make his way out to the courtyard that was located in front of the Squad Five barracks. He was somewhat tired due to his exertions in his placement tests and all he wanted to do in that moment in time was relax under a tree. Life as a full fledged Shinigami was nothing like the life of a student and Ed was beginning to realize this. There was always something to do, even in the most lax squad in all of the Seireitei.

It was true that Captain Kurosaki was one of the easy going captains however Ed found out that he did have a sense of duty and expected his squad members to do their jobs. Not that he minded this fact, after all he was always up for a new challenge, it just wasn't the same as being a student.

When the young Squad Five member reached a large tree he sat down underneath it and leaned against the trunk, his arms immediately going behind his head. Closing his eyes he thought about the research that he was dying to resume. It had been temporarily placed on hold in order for them to concentrate on their finals however now that they were graduates of the Academy it was time for their research to continue.

"Ed!"

Opening his eyes the young man turned his gaze in the direction that the voice had emanated from and Ed smiled widely as his brother walked toward him, his zanpaktou hanging from his sash. "Hey," he called out as he waved to Al.

"Hey Nii-san," Al said, returning his brother's friendly wave as he walked over to the spot where Ed was sitting. "So how was your first day?"

"It was okay I guess," Ed replied as Al joined him beneath the shade of the tree. "All I did was take some placement test to see where I ranked in the squad. It was difficult but it was also kinda fun."

Al waited for a few minutes, to see if his brother was going to be forthcoming with the information, however Ed didn't elaborate. "And?" Al pressed, wanting to know how well his brother had done. Sometimes Ed could be so dense.

"I made fifth seat," Ed replied, still not sure how he felt about this fact. Captain Kurosaki had told him that he should be proud of the placement however Ed had discovered that some of his fellow squad members were rather annoyed that he had entered the squad in such a high position.

"That's great Nii-san!" Al exclaimed, offering his brother a broad smile. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks Al," Ed said in a quiet voice. Then he turned toward his brother, a questioning look in his golden eyes. "So what about you?"

"Sixth seat," Al replied, a pleased look on his face. He was proud of his position and was really happy about his placement in Squad Four. They were all really nice and Captain Unohana was the greatest.

"Good job," Ed said, proud that his brother had also became a ranked officer in his squad.

"Thanks."

"So," Ed said as he placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Are you ready to continue with our research?"

Al nodded.

"Right," Ed said, getting quickly to his feet. "Let's head out to the Rukongai."

Al nodded, now familiar with the fact that his brother refused to conduct their research where anyone else might learn of it. He still thought that their research would progress further if they let Hughes in on it however Ed maintained that no one could know about it.

Getting to his feet Al quickly fell into step behind his brother. Together the two siblings left the Squad Five courtyard and made their way out to District One of the Rukongai. They had discovered an abandoned section on the outskirts of District One that was perfect for their purpose.

"So," Ed said once he and Al had reached their usual spot in the Rukongai. "Shall we begin with our usual sparring match?"

It was customary for the brothers to practice their combat skills before they resumed their research. It was something that had been ingrained in them since their days with Izumi-sensei. In order to train the mind you must first train the body. She had imparted that lesson to them and they took it to heart.

"Of course," Al said as he drew his zanpaktou from the sheath that he was wearing secured in his sash. "But don't blame me when you lose."

Drawing his own blade Ed said, "I have no intention of losing to you this time."

"You never intend to lose," Al said as he lunged toward his brother. "It just always ends up that way."

"Not this time," Ed said as he blocked the blow.

The sound of metal clashing on metal rang out through the air as the two brothers engaged in battle. To the uninitiated observer it would appear as though they really didn't like one another, they fought that hard, however it was out of respect that they did so.

It would have been the height of disrespect for one of the Elric siblings to go easy on the other and they had an unspoken agreement to never insult one another in that manner. So they always gave each sparring match everything that they had.

Respect ended there however and taunting was a regular part of these training sessions. Just as it was a regular part of any sibling relationship.

"Is this all you've got?" Ed asked as he blocked a blow from his brother's sword and then jumped away from his.

"Not even close," Al said, jumping toward his brother and twirling his zanpaktou. "I just wanted to make you think that you had a chance before I totally kick your ass."

"Yea right," Ed said with a smirk.

Neither boy used their Shikai however Ed still managed to end up wounded. He was unable to block or dodge a rather fierce blow from his brother and he hissed in pain as the blade sliced through the skin of his upper arm. The cut was deep and blood poured from the wound and dripped to the ground.

"Nii-san!" Al exclaimed as Ed stared at the wound, a horrified expression in his gray eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"It's no big deal," Ed said in an attempt to be tough even though the wound hurt like hell.

"Here let me," Al said, deciding that it was time for his brother to see his Shikai. He could heal the wound with kidou however it would be quicker and easier to use his zanpaktou. And from the amount of blood that his brother was losing quicker would definitely be better. Holding the blade out in front of him, pointing it's tip toward his brother, he called out, "Turn back time, Sunadokei!"

Ed watched as the blade of his brother's zanpaktou was engulfed in a golden glow and he gasped in surprise as his wound completely vanished. He didn't even feel any of the normal pain associated with healing kidou. It was as though it just vanished.

"How did you do that?" Ed asked, his golden eyes wide in surprise.

"My zanpaktou is kinda weird," Al said, running a hand through his short hair.

"But incredibly useful," Ed said as he tentatively probed the spot where his wound had been mere seconds before with one finger tip.

Al nodded. "Listen Nii-san, I haven't exactly perfected the use of my zanpaktou so I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention what it does."

"I won't say a word," Ed promised.

"Thank you," Al murmured.

"No problem," Ed said with a smile. Then he sheathed his blade and gazed at his brother. "So are you ready to resume our research?"

"Of course," Al told his brother, sheathing his own zanpaktou.

"I think I've discovered the main flaw in our method," Ed told his younger brother once they'd finished with their sparring match.

Al's eyes lit up in excitement. "Really?"

Ed nodded. "Think about it. We learned in the Academy that the physical make up of this world is different from the world that we came from. Everything in this world is comprised of spirit particles."

"That's right," Al said, unable to believe that he hadn't thought of that.

"So it's only natural that our process is flawed," Ed said. "But I still think that it's possible. I think we really can learn to use alchemy in this world if we can managed to manipulate the spirit particles."

"Excellent," Al said.

Both Elric brothers had lamented the loss of their ability to use alchemy however Ed had been convinced that there was a way and now they may have found it. Not that either boy thought it would be easy however they did think that it was possible. And this caused a euphoric feeling. Both boys held excited expressions on their faces as they thought about the possibilities. Alchemy on top of all of the powers they had gained upon becoming Shinigami.

That was a rather intoxicating thought.

A/N - The end of another chapter and now we know what Al's zanpaktou does. And the name translates to hourglass. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and tell me what you thought. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.


	12. Alchemy Reborn

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Twelve - Alchemy Reborn

Clasping his hands together for what seemed like the one millionth time since their arrival in the Soul Society Ed barely touched a pile of sticks with the tips of his outstretched hands and his eyes widened as the branches were surrounded by familiar blue sparks and then reassembled themselves to form a small wooden figure of a samurai, complete with armor and katana.

"Nii-san!" Al exclaimed, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Alchemy! You did it!"

"Looks like," Ed said as he fought to catch his breath. It was strange. Even that little bit of alchemy had completely drained him of all of his energy and it was all that he could do to remain in his kneeling position. His body felt so weak that all he wanted to do was fall over.

"Ed?" Al said as he noticed his brother's weakened condition. "Are you okay?"

Ed nodded but even as he did so he fell backwards and landed on his backside. The boy winced however made no attempt to move from this new position. He was simply too weak and now all he wanted to do was lay down and sleep. "It's weird," he muttered, confused by how drained he felt after the transmutation. "Alchemy never took this much out of me before."

"Maybe it has something to do with the different make-up of this world," Al said as he unsheathed his zanpaktou and held the blade over his brother's head. "It takes more work to use the alchemy here in Soul Society so therefore it takes more out of you. It's only natural if you really think about it."

"Hmm," Ed said thoughtfully.

Swinging the blade of his zanpaktou Al called out, "Turn back time, Sunadokei."

Once again the blade of his brother's sword was engulfed by the strange golden glow and the young Shinigami immediately felt his strength returning. Getting to his feet he brushed the dirt from his hakama before turning to Al, a grateful smile on his face. "Thanks Al. Your powers are awesome and they really come in handy."

"Glad that I can be of assistance Nii-san," Al said, beaming. At first he wasn't one hundred percent certain about how he felt about the power of his zanpaktou however now he was grateful for it. It was proving useful to his brother and that made him happy.

"Alright," Ed said, turning serious in the flash of an eye and getting back to business. Tossing the small wooden samurai aside the young man gathered together a pile of rocks of various sizes and put them in a pile in the center of the clearing.

"Are you going to try again Ed?" Al asked as he watched his brother gathering rocks.

Ed nodded as he placed the final rock on the pile. "That last time was the first success that we've had and I want to make sure that it wasn't just a fluke."

Al nodded. He understood his brother's desire to make sure that his use of alchemy wasn't a one time thing however he couldn't keep the concern from his gray eyes. The last time had taken so much of Ed's energy and it had been an incredibly simple transmutation. What would this next attempt bring?

Ed couldn't fail to notice the concern in his brother's eyes and he offered Al a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Al, I'll be fine. With your healing abilities what could go wrong?"

Al didn't answer, not that his brother was really expecting him to. Ed was too caught up in the alchemy to notice the uncertain look in his brother's gray eyes. Al knew that the powers of his zanpaktou used up his own energy however he wasn't about to let his brother in on this little secret. Ed would worry and that was the last thing that Al wanted.

Like Ed he wanted to be able to use alchemy again in this world and he was willing to go to whatever lengths were necessary.

Clasping his hands together once more Ed placed the tips of his fingers on top of the pile of rocks and watched as they were engulfed by familiar blue sparks. He couldn't keep a smile from forming on his face as he realized that it was working. The spirit particles that made up the rocks were reforming and coming together to make something different.

Amidst a puff of smoke a statue of Ed dressed as a Shinigami appeared where the rocks had been mere seconds before.

"Yes!" Ed exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air in triumph.

Alchemy was reborn!

The celebration was short lived however and, completely drained by his exertion, Ed crumpled to the ground once more. Al watched as his brother collapsed in a heap on the ground and with a sigh he once again raised his zanpaktou, which he hadn't sheathed after his last use of it.

"Turn back time, Sunadokei!"

Ed's limp form was surrounded by the same golden aura that surrounded Al's blade and he immediately began to stir. Feeling his energy coming back to him Ed rose to a sitting position and gazed over at his brother, an excited expression in his golden eyes.

"You did it Nii-san," Al said as he sheathed his zanpaktou, hoping that his brother was finished with alchemy for the time being. He was completely exhausted and didn't know how many more times he could heal his brother before it began to take a toll on his own health.

"No," Ed said as he grabbed his brother by the arm and pulled him to the ground. The older Elric wrapped his arm around his brother once Al was on the ground beside him. "We did it Al."

Al smiled, pleased by his brother's words.

The moment was broken however as Ed gazed at the horizon and realized how late it had gotten. He hadn't realized how much time he and his brother had spent in the clearing out in the Rukongai and a sweat drop appeared on the side of his forehead.

"Shit!"

"What is it Nii-san?" Al was concerned and he gazed at his brother, a questioning expression on his face.

"I have sparring practice," Ed said by way of explanation, jumping to his feet. "And I'm pretty sure that I'm late. Sorry Al, I'll have to talk to you later."

And with those parting words the golden haired Shinigami dashed off.

A smile appeared on his face as Al gathered up the wooden samurai and the stone statue of his brother. Ed had a one track mind when it came to research and the younger Elric was in no way surprised by the fact that his brother had forgotten about practice.

_"Some things will never change,"_he thought as he too made his way back to the Seireitei. Unlike his brother Al wasn't late for anything so he was able to take his time returning to Squad Four and he walked at a leisurely pace, thinking about alchemy as he walked. It was true that he hadn't attempted to use alchemy however his brother had proven that it was indeed possible in this world.

To the Elric brothers this was a major discovery.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late," Ed gasped as he arrived at the Squad Five training grounds. The rest of the squad members were all assembled there and they turned to gaze at their newest addition as he raced toward them, his hand gripping the hilt of his zanpaktou. Most of the others offered Ed smiles of encouragement as he joined their ranks however one of them held only contempt for the boy.

"I don't know why you even bothered to show up at all," the third seat officer of Squad Five said, a sneer on his face as his gaze focused on the young man. "It's not like you stand a chance against any of us so why bother with it?"

"Tomori you jerk," fourth seat Kaiya Maekawa snapped, glaring at the man who was technically her superior with a look of utmost loathing. "The point of this training session is to train and get better. And he's skilled enough to make fifth seat right after graduation so you shouldn't say things like that."

Ed was grateful to Kaiya for standing up to him but he also knew that his swordsmanship did leave something to be desired. He was capable of Shikai however his zanpaktou was stubborn and only cooperated with him about fifty percent of the time. There was definitely room for improvement and he knew it. But that knowledge didn't make Tomori's words any easier to take. The man had no interest what so ever in helping him to improve his skills he merely wanted to rub in the fact that at the moment he was a better swordsman. He just wanted to be a jerk.

Ed's grip tightened around the hilt of his zanpaktou as he glared at the arrogant third seat officer. Tomori had done nothing but pick fights with him since he'd joined the ranks of Squad Five and Ed was over it. In this moment he vowed that one day he would wipe the smirk from this man's face, even if it was the last thing that he ever did.

Beating Tomori had just replaced beating Hitsugaya on his list of priorities, which was truly saying something.

"Alright everyone." Ed's thoughts were forced away from his desire to beat Tomori by the arrival of Captain Kurosaki. Their orange haired leader had a smirk on his face, as always. "Let's get to work."

"Yes sir!" the group chorused.

Ed focused completely on the training however he was once again paired with Tomori and to his utter dismay he once again lost the fight. The loss was bad however the smug look on Tomori's face was infinitely worse and the young Shinigami clenched his hands into fists, resisting the urge to use his new reacquired alchemy skills to wipe that smug expression from the man's face.

_"No,"_ he thought to himself, determination glowing in his golden eyes. _"I won't do that. I refuse to alchemy in this fight. I will beat him with my zanpaktou, even if it's the last thing that I do."_

"Good work everyone," Ichigo said, once again addressing his subordinates. "Everyone has improved since last time. Keep up the good work. Dismissed."

And with those words the group disbursed. Still irritated by his loss to Tomori Ed left the Squad Five complex and made his way to the Squad Four barracks. He needed something to keep his mind off the fact that he wanted to kill one of his superiors and his brother had always been good at calming him down.

"Hello Edward," Squad Four Vice-captain Isane Kotetsu called out cheerfully as Ed entered the courtyard.

"Hello Vice-captain Kotetsu," Ed said, offering the kind woman a smile. "Is my brother around here anywhere?"

Isane nodded and stuck her head back inside the door. "Alphonse!" she called out. "You have a visitor."

A couple of minutes passed and then Al appeared in the doorway. His gray eyes lit up as he saw his brother standing in the courtyard and he cast a questioning glance toward the vice-captain of his squad.

Knowing the question before the boy even asked Isane nodded. "Go ahead Alphonse."

"Thanks," Al called out over his shoulder as he ran to catch up to his brother. Together the Elric siblings made their way to a secluded part of the Squad Four courtyard and, once they were out of earshot of everyone, Al turned to his brother. "What's up Ed? You look agitated."

"It's that bastard Tomori," Ed muttered, his hands once again clenching into fists. "I swear one of these days I'm going to get even with him."

"Did something happen in training?"

"The man is a jerk," Ed growled, practically spitting out the words. "And the fact that I keep losing to him is really beginning to piss me off. I need to get better with my zanpaktou so I can wipe that smug look off his face once and for all."

Shaking his head Al marveled at how familiar this vow sounded. "Ed, I thought that you were taking sword fighting lessons from Captain Hitsugaya? What happened?"

A sweat drop appeared on the side of Ed's head. "I quit after only two lessons. I told that smug little brat that I'd rather die than take lessons from him. And then I left and I haven't seen him since."

"Edward." Al's voice was reproachful as he gazed at his older brother.

"I know," Ed muttered, actually wishing that he had kept up the lessons. Compared to Hitsugaya Tomori was nothing and yet Ed still couldn't manage to beat him. Maybe he should go and ask the Squad Ten Captain to resume their lessons.

He hated the thought however he hated the thought of Tomori beating him again even more. Sighing he made his decision. _"Fine,"_ he thought to himself, irritated by the very thought of asking that brat for anything. But the truth could not be denied. When fighting with Captain Hitsugaya he learned faster and his skills improved more than during any other training. As much as he hated to admit it, the fact was that he needed the boy's help. _"I'll ask for his help. But that doesn't mean that I have to like it."_

A/N - and there's the end of chapter twelve, hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.


	13. Equivalent Exchange

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach and I'm definitely not making any money from this. Just having a little fun.

Chapter Thirteen - Equivalent Exchange

"I can't believe that I'm actually doing this," Ed muttered to himself as he made his way across the Seireitei to the one squad that he'd sworn to never again set foot in. He hadn't gotten over his anger with the smug Captain Hitsugaya by any means however he found that he was in need of the brat's help. He had encountered someone even more annoying and needed Hitsugaya's help in order to beat Tomori in a sword fight.

"Yo Edward," a voice called out from behind him as Ed made his way across the Squad Ten courtyard.

Caught off guard Ed jumped and then whirled around to find Hughes walking toward him. "What?" he snapped before his mind registered exactly who it was that had called out to him. Then, once the fact that it was friend registered, Ed waved his hands in apology. He hadn't meant to be so short with his friend it was just that he was already on edge due to the simple fact of where he was heading. "I'm sorry Hughes, it's just that I'm a little on edge."

"I would imagine so," Hughes said, offering the blond Shinigami a fatherly smile. To be completely honest Hughes was actually shocked to see the young man here. "So what exactly brings you here to Squad Ten?"

An anger mark appeared on the side of Ed's face as he recalled the reason for his journey to Squad Ten and he was once again annoyed by the very thought of asking Hitsugaya for help. IT was the last thing he wanted to do however he realized that he needed help in order to get good enough to defeat Tomori and like it or not Hitsugaya was the best one for the job. And he most definitely didn't like it. The young man growled low in his throat.

Knowing this side of the young man extremely well Hughes was instantly on guard. "You know what, on second thought just forget that I asked. I have guard duty to attend to anyway. Catch you later Ed."

And without another word Hughes walked away.

Ed felt somewhat ashamed by the fact that he'd driven Hughes away with his foul mood but on the other hand he couldn't seem to get rid of the attitude. He was being forced to ask his rival Hitsugaya for help and that thought did not sit well with him. It was almost as bad as asking Mustang for help back when he'd been alive and it was sure to leave the same bad taste in his mouth.

"Ugh," he groaned under his breath as he resumed his journey to the office. "I can't believe that I'm actually going to do this."

* * *

"Captain!"

The young prodigy's grip tightened around the pen that he was holding as he fought down his irritation at her whiny voice. His second in command had been avoiding her paperwork all day and he'd finally ordered her to finish it which had resulted in her whining. "What is it now Matsumoto?"

"How about we take a break?" the busty vice-captain suggested, a hopeful expression in her blue eyes as she gazed at her superior.

"Not a chance," Hitsugaya muttered as he returned to his paperwork. "It's not like you've done anything to deserve a break."

Matsumoto heaved a sigh and reluctantly began to work on the stack of paperwork that was sitting on the edge of her desk however her gaze lifted mere moments later when there came a knock at the door. She was delighted by the interruption and instead of merely calling out to the visitor she jumped to her feet and dashed over to open the door.

"Edward," she said, surprise evident in her voice as she came face to face with the young man that she and her captain had found in the forest of the Rukongai.

"Hello Vice-captain Matsumoto," Ed said, his voice as respectful as he could manage while in this particular squad. "I came to speak to your captain."

"By all means," Matsumoto said, gesturing for the blond haired member of Squad Five to enter the office. She was sensing that she would soon have some entertainment since meetings between this youth and her captain never went well. "Come in."

"Thank you," Ed said as he stepped inside the office.

"Captain," Matsumoto called out in a sing-songy voice, turning around so that she could look at Hitsugaya and therefore see his reaction. "You have a visitor."

Which of course the young prodigy already knew since he did have the sense of hearing after all. Hitsugaya had ceased his paperwork when Matsumoto had opened the door to reveal the unwelcome guest and he glared at Ed, wondering what possible business the blond menace could have with him. "Matsumoto, you may leave."

"But captain. . ."

"Leave," Hitsugaya ordered, leaving her absolutely no room to argue the order.

"Fine then," Matsumoto said, disappointed that she didn't get to hand around and watch the fireworks. She had been dying to leave mere minutes ago however now that she wanted to stay her captain refused to allow her to. Her look was somewhat pouty as she turned to leave the office. "You're no fun at all captain."

Hitsugaya waited until his second in command had departed before he turned his attention back to Ed, whom he hadn't seen since the man had quit their lessons. Not that he had objected to this, as evident by the fact that he hadn't reported to Head Captain Ukitake that they had stopped. "What do you want Elric?"

Fighting the urge to curse at the boy and then leave Ed walked toward the desk. This was going to be one of the hardest things that he'd ever had to do however he was determined to do it. "I. . . I came to ask a favor."

Hitsugaya was shocked by this statement and all he could do was stare at the Squad Five member in disbelief.

"I know that I'm the one who called it quits," Ed said, fighting hard to keep the venom out of his voice. "But I would really appreciate it if you would consent to resume our lessons."

"And why would I do that?" Hitsugaya asked, gazing at Ed through narrowed teal eyes.

Ed briefly debated what answer he should give however in the end he decided on the truth. After all he had learned from Captain Kurosaki that Hitsugaya was a prodigy who had graduated from the Academy at an incredibly early age. It was likely that he had experienced similar issues with his classmates and squad mates. The blond youth took a deep breath. "There's this obnoxious prick in Squad Five who thinks he's all that and he won't stop telling me that I'm worthless."

Despite the fact that Ed annoyed him to no end Hitsugaya found that a small part of himself, a very small almost miniscule part, sympathized with the young man. He knew what it was like to have someone who delighted in making your life miserable. Keeping his voice as nonchalant as possible the young captain asked, in an off-hand manner, "And who might this person be?"

"His name is Ryuu Tomori," Ed replied, unsure whether or not the Squad Ten Captain would know him. "And he's the third seat officer of my squad."

Hitsugaya saw red as that name brought back memories that he had never wanted to experience again. Tomori had actually been one of his classmates during his time in the Shinigami Academy and the bastard had made it a point to constantly tell him that he didn't belong there and that he wouldn't make it.

Thinking that his hesitation meant that he wasn't going to help Ed resorted to plan B. "If you continue teaching me how to control my zanpaktou then I'll teach you something."

Hitsugaya arched one eyebrow. "And what can you teach me?"

Walking over to the young captain's desk Ed picked up a blank piece of paper and placed it on the small table that was situated in front of the sofa in the center of the room. Thinking that the blond menace had finally and completely lost it Hitsugaya got to his feet so that he could better see what Ed was doing.

Hoping that he wasn't making a huge mistake by showing this off Ed clasped his hands together and touched the piece of paper. The familiar blue sparks erupted and when the puff of smoke cleared an ornate origami crane was sitting on the table where the paper had been.

Despite himself Hitsugaya was somewhat impressed. And confused at the same time. "What is this skill?"

"It's called alchemy," Ed replied. "A science from the country where I'm from. And if you'll continue our sword fighting lessons then I'll teach it to you. However if you would I would prefere to keep it a secret from the others for now."

Hitsugaya thought about the request for a few minutes before he finally nodded. "Our lessons will resume first thing tomorrow, if that is alright with your captain. But know this; I'm only doing this because I hate that bastard Tomori."

Ed nodded and, even though the words practically burned on his tongue, he said, "Thank you."

The blond youth turned to leave however he only traveled a couple of steps before he stopped. Turning back to face the Squad Ten Captain he asked, "So when would you like to start the alchemy lessons?"

Trying not to look eager Hitsugaya said, "After the sword fighting lessons?"

"Right," Ed said with a nod.

With his business complete Ed left the Squad Ten barracks and made his way back toward Squad Five. And on the way there he ran into his brother who seemed to be searching for something or someone. "What's up Al? Have you lost something?"

"You," Al replied as he fell into step beside his brother. "I went to Squad Five looking for you but obviously you weren't there. Where exactly have you been Ed?"

"Squad Ten," Ed replied, without the venom that his voice normally contained when speaking of this particular squad.

"Really?" Al asked, his eyes wide. "Why?"

"I asked Captain Hitsugaya if he would continue my lessons," Ed replied.

"And. . ."

"We start first thing in the morning," Ed told his brother. Then, after a moment's thought he decided to tell Al what he had traded in order to make this possible. "And after that I'm going to give him a lesson on basic alchemy."

"Seriously?" Al exclaimed.

Ed nodded, thinking about what he had offered. "It's equivalent exchange, one lesson for another. And I don't think that he'll tell anyone else about it. At least not yet."

Al nodded, trusting his brother's judgement.

"Soon I'll show that bastard Tomori what for," Ed said, raising a fist in the air.

A/N - and there's lucky chapter thirteen! And Ed's going to trade alchemy lessons for sword fighting lessons. And Shirou's going to learn to be an alchemist. Aw, they're bonding. Cue dramatic fight music cause it can't last. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and tell me what you thought. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.


	14. Lessons Resume, Lessons Begin

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach and I definitely am not making any money from this. Just having a little fun.

Chapter Fourteen - Lessons Resume, Lessons Begin

Alchemy lessons traded for sword fighting lessons.

Ed had received permission from his captain for the lessons, although he had omited the part about teaching Hitsugaya alchemy, and he made his way toward the Squad Ten barracks while the air still held the chill of the early morning. Hitsugaya had said first thing in the morning and Ed had taken him at his word.

Ed still wasn't certain that he had made the right choice however he was still determined to defeat Tomori in battle and wipe the floor with his smug face and he realized that the only way he could accomplish this was with Hitsugaya's help. That thought irritated him beyond words however he was willing to deal with the irritation in order to reach his goal.

When the young Shinigami arrived at the Squad Ten barracks he quickly made his way to the office where his former arch rival resided. Upon reaching the door Ed took a deep breath before knocking politely on the door and stepping back.

"Enter," a voice called out from within.

Still completely unable to believe the fact that he was actually planning on going through with this beyond scary plan, Ed slid the door open and stepped inside the Squad Ten office. Captain Hitsugaya was once again seated at his desk, completely surrounded by paperwork, and Ed found himself wondering if the kid had ever even left the office.

He seemed to be a permanent resident from what Ed could tell.

"So you actually came," Hitsugaya said with a smirk as his gaze focused on the blond haired Shinigami. To be completely honest he was somewhat surprised that Edward was actually going to go through with the plan to resume his training and he found that a small part of himself, a very small and almost microscopic part, was actually impressed with the boy's resolve.

"Of course I came," Ed said, fighting hard to keep the scathing tone out of his voice. Of course he failed miserably however Hitsugaya chose to overlook the undesirable tone. He would have plenty of time to beat it out of the taller boy, providing that Ed didn't once again quit.

"So are you ready to begin?" the white haired captain asked, an intense expression in his teal eyse.

Ed nodded, his hand automatically going to the hilt of his zanpaktou. He was determined to learn how to fully control his stubborn zanpaktou and then he would show that bastard Tomori what he was truly capable of. And if he wasn't so damn determined to keep it a secret from everyone in the Seireitei he would have already used alchemy to wipe that smug expression from the man's face.

Unfortunately he wasn't certain how his alchemy skills would be viewed and was loathe to show them to anyone before he had mastered the differences in the alchemy from this world. He had second thoughts about teaching it to Hitsugaya but he had already offered and he would not go back on his word.

He had offered to trade alchemy lessons for sword fighting lessons and he would honor this arrangement.

But he couldn't help secretly hoping that the obnoxious white haired captain wasn't capable of performing alchemy. That would serve to wipe away some of the smugness that he always exuded. Hitsugaya had walked over to him by this point and Ed forced his mind away from such thoughts.

He knew that he should be grateful that Hitsugaya had agreed to resume the lessons but he just couldn't bring himself to have any good thoughts about the kid. And this fact didn't change when the two of them arrived at the Squad Ten training grounds and the lesson began.

Ed should have been used to being knocked around at this point and yet he still felt his temper rising. And the situation wasn't aided by the scathing remarks offered to him by both his teacher and his zanpaktou. Hikari no Shinjitsu seemed bound and determined to make him lose the already shaky grasp that he had on his sanity and Ed was not amused by the constant snide remarks that were offered to him by his supposed partner.

"Why the hell are you so annoying?" he growled as he blocked a particularly fierce blow from Captain Hitsugaya's zanpaktou Hyourinmaru. He was still irritated over the fact that his zanpaktou absolutely refused to cooperate with him and only relented under actual battle circumstances when it sensed that it's master was in eminent danger of dying. Aparently knowing that Hitsugaya was going to knock him around but not kill him simply wasn't enough to gain the sword's cooperation. It was annoying and made Ed angry. . . angrier. "You don't see Hitsugaya over there having an argument with his sword in the middle of a battle."

Hitsugaya heard the comment, of course, since Ed wasn't known for his volume control. A smile spread across his face and he briefly wondered if he should share a couple of the stories of his first encounters with the spirit of his zanpaktou. A second glance to the blond Shinigami answered the question for him.

No.

He would figure things out on his own eventually and for now this was simply too much fun to watch.

_**"I'm the embodiment of your heart and soul," **_the sword countered calmly, his voice echoing through Ed's mind. _**"Have you ever thought that perhaps I'm this way because you yourself are lacking in the manners department? No, of course you didn't think about this."**_

The grip that Ed had on the hilt of his sword tightened and Hitsugaya found that he could actually see a vein bulging in the boy's forehead. With a sigh he lowered his sword. "I think that we should call it quits for today."

"Why?" Ed demanded, focusing his gaze on his opponent for the first time in several minutes.

"Well for one because you're distracted," Hitsugaya said, gazing at the boy through narrowed eyes. "I could have killed you any number of times had this been an actual battle. And for another, you're fighting with your partner and therefore you're definately not going to gain his cooperation any time soon."

Ed's first impulse was to shout at the kid but in the end he knew that the infuriating young captain was right. The goal of these lessons was for him to learn to work in harmony with his zanpaktou and the fact was that this was simply not going to happen today. "Fine," he said with a sigh.

The blond Shinigami gestured toward a tall tree that was situated at the edge of the training grounds. "That looks like a nice, shady spot to begin our alchemy lessons."

Hitsugaya nodded and together the two boys settled themselves on the soft grass underneath the shade of the tree's leaves. Ed quickly ran through a history of alchemy, memorized long ago, and he could see the light in Hitsugaya's eyes that meant that the boy was hanging on his every word.

This gave Ed an odd sensation. He was actually teaching something to the so called child prodigy. Hughes had informed Ed about the past of the young prodigy and Ed upon hearing about the difficulties that the kid had faced Ed had felt a grudging respect for the young captain grow. Hitsugaya had faced some of the same hardships that he himself had faced when joining the military and yet despite that had managed to reach the rank of captain in record time.

A small part of Ed knew that the kid deserved to be somewhat cocky.

"Okay," he said in a quiet voice once he'd completed the abbreviated history lesson. Grabbing a nearby stick he began to sketch a simple array in the dirt in front of him. Hitsugaya watched Ed's every move and, once Ed had completed the array, he took the stick and, almost eagerly copied the array.

"Good," Ed said as he explained a little more about the science part of the alchemy. He had to make sure that Hitsugaya knew about Equivalent Exchange and that you had to have equal mass and a similar physical makeup in order to make the transmutation work.

"So," Ed said as he pulled a sheet of paper from the fold of his shihakusho. "Once you understand the physical makeup of your object then you can transmute it into something else."

And, even though he was perfectly capable of performing the transmutation without the use of the array, Ed placed the piece of paper in the center of the circle. Then he placed the tips of his fingers on the edge of the array.

Hitsugaya watched as blue sparks erupted around the piece of paper. With a bang it was enveloped in smoke but when the smoke cleared Hitsugaya's eyes widened in surprise. The piece of paper had been transformed into an elegantly constructed paper crane.

"Okay," Ed said, pulling out yet another piece of paper. "Now it's your turn."

With a nod of his head Hitsugaya accepted the piece of paper that Ed offered him and placed it in the center of his own array. His mind quickly thought back to everything that Ed had told him about alchemy and how to make it work. The young captain took a deep breath, hoping that his 'teacher' didn't notice the nervous action, and then placed the tips of his fingers at the edge of the transmutation circle.

It was Ed's turn to watch as sparks erupted around the paper, followed by the familiar bang and puff of smoke. He gazed on in curiosity and, when the smoke finally cleared, it was to reveal yet another paper crane. This one was somewhat less elegant but still impressive for the boy's first attempt.

For his part Hitsugaya looked somewhat disappointed as he picked up the paper crane.

"Don't worry about it," Ed said. "It's actually really good for a first attempt."

Hitsugaya's eyes widened as he heard the words that were meant to be an encouragement. This was somewhat strange, since he and Ed had been at each other's throats since the day they met, and he couldn't help but stare for a moment. But then the shock wore off and he forced his expression back into the stoic one that he wore so often.

"I have a great deal of paperwork to complete," he said, hoping that Ed hadn't noticed the shocked look. "So shall we resume this next week?"

"Alright," Ed said with a nod. "Same day, same time?"

Hitsugaya nodded and the two boys got to their feet and made their way back to their respective squads. Overall the lessons had both gone fairly well and both boys were actually looking forward to the next one. Hell, maybe they could get over their dislike of one another yet.

A/N - I apologize for the long wait for this update but I have a lot of projects on going and I'm trying to keep them all from going months without an update. Plus I've been in D Gray Man mode since watching the anime. My insanity knows no limits. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and tell me what you thought. The Musician


	15. Beyond Rivals

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Fifteen - Beyond Rivalry

"Hey Ed," Al called out as he watched a familiar form walking across the Squad Four courtyard toward the spot where he was standing. From a distance his brother seemed normal but as Ed drew closer Al could tell that he was, once again, injured. Blood coated his right shoulder and he was walking as though something had happened to his left leg. "Ugh," Al sighed.

Ed noticed the scrutinizing gaze that his brother had directed at him and all he could do was smile. He knew that his brother was getting somewhat tired of treating his constant injuries but what could he do? He was constantly training and going on small missions to the world of the living and sometimes he got hurt during one or both of these activities. It wasn't as though he did it on purpose, it was just the way things were. "Sorry Al," he muttered as he came to a stop in front of his brother. He offered his brother a sheepish grin as Al gazed at him, taking in his bloody appearance.

"Come with me," Al said, turning and leading the way toward the entrance to the Squad Four barracks.

Ed nodded and fell into step behind his brother. The going was slow, since Ed could only hobble after Al, but the brothers did eventually make it to one of the closer exam rooms. Al ushered his brother inside and then followed, closing the door as he did so.

"So what happened this time?" Al asked as he watched his brother sit down gingerly on the exam table.

"Hollow," Ed replied in an uncustomary quiet voice. There was a strange look in his golden eyes as he said this, as though he were lost in thought.

"A Hollow?" Al repeated, somewhat surprised that a single enemy had managed to get the drop on his brother and cause such serious injuries. It wasn't like Ed to allow something like this to happen. Al had actually been thinking that the older boy had probably gotten a little carried away during training or something.

"No," Ed snapped, some of the fire returning to his golden eyes. "A large group of them."

Well that made a little more sense, Al thought to himself as he began to treat Ed's injuries. If he had been ganged up on by a large group of Hollow then it was only natural that he sustained some injuries. But this revelation brought up another question that Al wanted to know the answer to. "So why were you fighting so many on your own Edward? Did you run off without thinking again?"

"No," Ed growled, his hands clenching into fists as he thought back to the events that had brought him here to the infirmary. The movement caused a flash of pain in his injured shoulder but Ed found that he didn't care very much at the moment. He wanted blood over this particular incident and was already plotting a way to get even. "I went with a group of five. Unfortunately they didn't really see any need to help me."

Al gasped, his gray eyes widening in horror. "You mean they left you?"

Ed shook his head. "No. I mean they stood around and watched the fight, from a safe distance of course. Tomori thought that I should have no problem taking on the group of Hollow, and I might not have if they had been your average low level Hollow but these were something else."

"I'm sorry Ed," Al apologized as he continued to treat his brother's injuries.

"For what?" Ed asked, one eyebrow arched as he gazed at his younger brother.

"For thinking that you brought this upon yourself," Al murmured, his gaze focusing anywhere except on the face of his brother.

Ed laughed which caused Al to look up. There was a broad smile on Ed's face and he didn't show even a trace of anger. "You don't have to apologize. After all the trouble I get into is usually my fault so why wouldn't you think that? It's okay Al."

Al offered his brother a smile. "Thanks."

"The one whose really gonna regret that this happened is that bastard Tomori," Ed growled, clenching one hand into a fist and holding it up. He had learned his lesson as far as that was concerned and he kept his right arm still so as not to further aggravate the wound on his shoulder. "He just stood there and watched while I fought those assholes."

"And the others didn't even try to help?" Al asked, shocked.

"They might have," Ed said in a thoughtful tone. "If Tomori hadn't ordered them not to. They're all scared of him so they did as they were told. I don't blame them half as much as I blame him. As soon as I get just a little bit better with my zanpaktou I'm going to challenge him and he's going to regret this grudge that he has going on against me."

"Why does he hate you so much anyway Nii-san?" Al asked as he finished treating his brother's wounds. He had opted to use a healing kidou instead of his zanpaktou, so the wounds would still be somewhat sore for a couple of days, but his brother would be fine after that.

"I have no idea," Ed replied as he hopped down from the exam table. "Normally I remember the things I do to piss people off and I can safely say that I haven't done anything to that bastard. He just took a disliking to me for whatever reason and now he's made it his official job to make my life miserable." An evil aura suddenly surrounded the young blond boy. "But he's going to regret it, this I promise you."

"Just try to stay out of trouble for a little while Nii-san," Al begged as the two brothers left the treatment room together.

"Oh come on," Ed said, turning to glance at his brother over his shoulder and offering him a roguish grin. "If I did that then what would you do to keep busy."

"Trust me," Al said, shaking his head. "I have plenty to do without having to fix you up every other day."

"It's not every other day," Ed snapped.

"Close enough so as not to matter," Al maintained.

"Anyway, thanks for the help," Ed said as he and Al reached the end of the courtyard. "I should probably get over to Squad Five so that I can report to Captain Kurosaki."

"Are you going to tell him what happened?" Al asked, a questioning gaze focused on his brother.

Ed shook his head. "Just that I fought a group of Hollow and ended up wounded. The other thing that happened is between me and Tomori and I WILL get my revenge. You can count on it. Equivalent Exchange is a bitch."

Al sighed, thinking that his brother was going to get himself into trouble, but said nothing on the subject. "Take care Ed."

"I'll see you later Al," Ed said, waving over his shoulder as he walked away.

As Ed made his way toward the Squad Five barracks his thoughts shifted back to the battle that he had fought in the world of the living. That group of Hollow had appeared normal enough, until he had engaged them in combat that is. That's when he found out that they were anything but normal. They had fought like madmen and had been so strong that they were almost like genetically enhanced Hollow.

"What the hell..." the young boy thought to himself as he slowly walked toward the Squad Five barracks.

What had taken place didn't make any sense to him and the young Shinigami decided that he would have to investigate the situation and find out what had caused that particular group of Hollow to be so damn tough. It was suspicious and he wanted to know what was going on.

The enemies that he had fought had reminded him of something and Ed searched his memories, trying to recall exactly what that something was. Then he gasped as the answer came to him in a flash. The Hollow that he had fought reminded him of chimera, beasts created by alchemy to be the ultimate weapon.

"No way..." Ed thought, his golden eyes widening.

It wasn't possible... was it?

A/N - This chapter was short but I hope that you enjoyed it. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought.


	16. Modified Hollow

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Sixteen - Modified Hollow

Having just finished another grueling, dual training session, Ed and Hitsugaya were preparing to head back to their respective squads when the two Shinigami suddenly felt a strange reiatsu. Both boys stopped short, their gazes simultaneously going to a grove of trees that was located just outside of the Seireitei boundary.

"Do you feel that?" Hitsugaya asked as he gazed toward the trees.

Ed nodded. "Hollow."

"Yes," Hitsugaya confirmed. "But there's something strange about these Hollow. I can't quite put my finger on what it is but there's definitely something off about this. We should go and check it out."

Ed nodded and together the two of them traveled to the wall that separated the Seireitei from the Rukongai. The guard immediately got out of their way and the Hitsugaya led the way out into District One, following the strange reiatsu trail that was being given off by the Hollow.

The white haired captain led the way toward the group of Hollow that seemed to be clustered in the Rukongai and he was followed closely behind by the golden haired member of Squad Five. The two young Shinigami had been training together for some time but this would be the first time that they had ever engaged in an actual battle together.

"Are you ready for this Elric?" Hitsugaya called out over his shoulder as he and Ed used their flash-step to travel quickly toward the destination.

"I'm ready," Ed said in a determined voice, pulling his zanpaktou from the sheath that he wore secured at his sash. He had been training diligently so that he could defeat that smug bastard Tomori and he was certain that this training would pay off in the battle that he and Captain Hitsugaya were running toward.

When the two Shinigami arrived in a clearing in the forest they saw a single Hollow standing in the center, it's eyes glowing red with malice. The two boys drew up short and stared at the beast, confusion evident in two sets of eyes; one teal and the other golden.

"What the hell?" Ed exclaimed, holding his zanpaktou up. "Where are the rest of them?"

Hitsugaya heard the shouts from his companion but chose to ignore them for the time being. He focused his attention on the Hollow that stood facing them and his teal eyes grew even wider as he came to a realization. That single Hollow was the source of the multiple traces of reiatsu that he and Ed had felt.

"Impossible..." the young captain murmured.

"What is it?" Ed demanded, his gaze shifting back and forth between the Hollow and Hitsugaya.

"That Hollow is the source of the reiatsu," Hitsugaya said in a quiet voice, his hand reaching back toward the hilt of Hyourinmaru. It was hard to believe but the young prodigy knew that he was correct in his assumption. There was something very different about this particular Hollow. "All of it."

"Unreal..." Ed whispered.

"What I don't understand is how this is possible," Hitsugaya said as he drew his zanpaktou in one fluid movement. Never, in all his years as a Shinigami, had he heard of such a thing happening. "It's as though someone forcefully bound a group of Hollow together into a single entity. An entity that possesses the combined powers of all of the Hollow that were used to create it."

Ed felt his blood run cold as he listened to Hitsugaya's words. What he was describing sounded exactly like a chimera; a being created when alchemy was used to combine multiple animals together. Could that same process have been used to create this beast that stood before them?

"The time for talk is over Shinigami..." the beast growled, hatred radiating from it like a dark aura. It was obvious by it's movements that it was preparing to attack.

"That's fine by me," Hitsugaya said in a quiet voice, holding up his zanpaktou. The tip of Hyourinmaru pointed toward the sky as the young captain called out, "Reign over the frosted, frozen sky, Hyourinmaru!"

The dragon comprised of water and ice erupted from the tip of the young prodigy's sword, circled around it's master once, and then flew toward the Hollow however the beast easily swiped it aside. This came as somewhat of a surprise to Hitsugaya but the young captain didn't dwell on it for long. Instead he launched another attack, determined to end this fight quickly.

Holding up his own zanpaktou Ed quietly hoped that the sword would choose to cooperate with him this time. Taking a deep breath Ed called out to his zanpaktou, "Shine the light of truth on my enemies, Hikari no Shinjitsu!"

The small sword transformed into the long staff that was it's Shikai form and, holding it up, Ed joined the battle. Together the two young Shinigami soon brought the Hollow menace under control but it was still more difficult to kill than it should have been. Both Ed and Hitsugaya were high ranking officers and yet this single Hollow had given them a small measure of difficulty.

"What the hell is going on?" Ed asked as he watched the body of the Hollow disintegrate. He was out of breath from their fight but he desperately wanted to know what exactly was up with that strange Hollow that the two of them had just fought.

"I would have thought that would be obvious," a voice called out, startling both Ed and Hitsugaya. Both boys shifted their gaze toward a path that led away from the sight of their battle and watched as a woman entered the clearing.

"Teacher..."

Hitsugaya's gaze shifted back to his companion and he saw that Ed was now wearing a shocked expression on his face. It was obvious to the young captain that Ed knew this woman from somewhere and he was curious as to why she was there.

"Hello Edward," the woman said as she walked toward the spot where the two boys were standing.

The woman was tall and had dark hair which she wore in a mass of braids that were pulled back into a ponytail. Instead of the traditional kimono that most women in the Rukongai wore this woman was dressed in a short white yukata over tight-fitting black pants.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Ed said as Izumi Curtis came to stand in front of him. "So tell me teacher, what exactly was supposed to be obvious to me?"

"That someone is using alchemy to fuse Hollow together," Izumi said, her piercing gaze focused on her former student.

"Are you serious?" Hitsugaya asked, walking over to the spot where the two of them were standing.

Izumi nodded, gazing down at the white haired youth. She had been residing in the Rukongai for several years now and during that time she had learned a lot about how Soul Society worked. As well as more about Hollow than she had ever needed to know.

"Do you have any idea who is responsible for it?" Ed asked.

Izumi shook her head. That had been something that she hadn't been able to uncover. "They only began doing this recently but I think that it is someone that we know. After all, the number of people who can use alchemy is limited."

Ed nodded; she had a very valid point.

"I think that you should return with us to the Seireitei," Hitsugaya suggested, determined to find out what was going on and to put a stop to it. This woman seemed to know quite a bit about the situation so she could prove useful. "We may need your help."

"Right," Izumi said.

A/N - and there's another chapter. So who is responsible for creating the modified Hollow? Stay tuned to the story to find out. Hope that you enjoyed, please leave a review and tell me what you thought.


	17. Searching for Answers

Disclaimer - I own neither FMA nor Bleach

Chapter Seventeen - Searching for Answers

Once the trio returned to the Seireitei Hitsugaya led the way to the Squad Ten office, followed closely by Ed and the woman that he called teacher. Her explanation about someone using alchemy to fuse Hollow together to create a more powerful being made since to the young captain, who had acquired a vast amount of knowledge about alchemy during his lessons with Ed.

The real question was who was responsible for the creation of said creatures?

Once again Izumi had a very valid point about the number of people capable of pulling it off being limited. It had to be someone who had extensive knowledge of alchemy, as well as the time necessary to learn to use that skill in Soul Society.

When they reached his office Hitsugaya slid the door open and motioned for the two people following him to enter. Ed and Izumi complied and the young captain followed them, anxious to question this new arrival and find out exactly what she knew about the manufactured Hollow. The white haired youth motioned toward the sofa and, taking the hint, Ed and Izumi sat down.

"So tell me," Hitsugaya said, a strange expression in his teal eyes. "What do you know of these Hollow that were created using alchemy?"

Izumi took a deep breath and met the young captain's gaze. "They began appearing a couple of months ago and they seem to be targeting specific people. I think they are most likely a test run for some kind of experiment."

"Why do you think that Teacher?" Ed asked, his golden eyed gaze focused on the woman who had trained him and his brother.

"Well," Izumi said, her thoughts wandering back to her first few encounters with the modified Hollow. "At first they targeted normal people who lived in the Rukongai; no one with particularly strong reiatsu and thus no one who posed a threat to anyone. Then, their targets became random Shinigami who were out in the Rukongai on patrol and now finally the two of you."

"I see," Hitsugaya said, running a hand through his unruly white hair. "So their targets have increased in strength over time. That most likely means that their testing exactly how tough of an opponent their creations can deal with."

"Wonderful," Ed said, his voice laced heavily with sarcasm. "So what are we going to do about this?"

"We're going to stop them of course," Hitsugaya replied, as though this were the most obvious thing in the world. "You should go and request to borrow your brother from Squad Four. I expect that we'll need his help and his powers will most likely prove useful in this fight."

"Right," Ed said, getting to his feet. "I'll go and fetch Al right now."

And with this Ed departed the Squad Ten office. He couldn't believe his bad luck; all he'd wanted to do was grow strong enough to defeat that bastard Tomori and yet now he found himself drawn into yet another conflict. And a conflict involving Hollow chimera of all things.

_"There's something weird about this," _the young Shinigami thought to himself as he made his way across the Seireitei toward the Squad Four barracks. He really hoped that Captain Unohana consented to let him borrow his brother since his powers really would be useful in this fight.

"Nii-san!" Al called out as he spied his older brother walking across the Squad Four courtyard. The younger of the two brothers offered the elder a smile but it faltered as Ed grew closer and Al picked up on the concern in his golden eyes. "What's the matter?"

"We have a problem," Ed replied, gazing around. "Do you think that Captain Unohana will let you come to Squad Ten with me?"

Al shrugged. "Probably but why?"

"I'll explain everything on the way," Ed promised. "Now go and ask her."

Al picked up on the sense of urgency contained in Ed's voice and immediately dashed off in search of his commanding officer. He returned about ten minutes later and nodded to Ed. "She said that it was okay for me to come with you. Now tell me what's going on?"

"Right," Ed said, turning and leading the way toward the gate that led from the courtyard. "Well Captain Hitsugaya and I had just finished our training session when we felt what we thought to be the combined reiatsu of a large number of Hollow out in the Rukongai. We went to check out the situation and we discovered that it was a single Hollow but one that possessed the reiatsu of many."

Al gasped upon hearing this news. "Nii-san... does that mean what I think it means?"

Ed nodded. "It means that someone else in this world knows how to use alchemy and that they're using it to fuse Hollow together. We have to find out who is doing this and we have to stop them."

"Right," Al said.

The two brothers quickly made their way to the Squad Ten barracks and when they entered Captain Hitsugaya's office Al froze as his gaze fell upon someone that he hadn't expected to ever see again. His gray eyes widened and his mouth fell open.

"Oh yea," Ed said as a sort of after thought. "Guess I forgot to mention that we sorta ran into Teacher while we were out in the Rukongai..."

Al whirled on his brother. "How could you forget to mention something like that?"

Ed shrugged.

"Hello Alphonse," Izumi said, offering the younger of her two former students a smile. "You're looking well. And I've heard from Captain Hitsugaya that you've gone into healing."

"Yea," Al said, sounding somewhat embarrassed.

"Come on," Hitsugaya said, motioning for the two boys to come over to the spot where he and Izumi were seated. "You can catch up later. For now we have to figure out exactly how we're going to deal with this little problem."

"Right," Ed and Al said in one voice.

Ed and Al sat down on the sofa and together the four of them discussed the modified Hollow and the person who was responsible for their creation. Ed thought that the homunculi were the most obvious culprits of something like this however they had been unable to actually use alchemy and none of them knew if this restriction would have disappeared after death.

As things stood the list of suspects was a long one.

"This is going to take forever," Ed whined as he gazed at the list that he and the others had comprised. "We'll have to search the entire Rukongai looking for these people. And there isn't even any guarantee that they're all gonna be there."

"We have no choice," Hitsugaya said, shaking his head. "We're going to have to enlist more help. There's just no way that the four of us can do it on our own. And unfortunately this means that we're going to have to tell them about alchemy."

"It's okay," Ed said, a smirk spreading across his face. "I've completed my research. There's no longer any reason for me to keep it secret."

"Alright then," Hitsugaya said, getting to his feet. "I'll go and speak with Head Captain Ukitake and have him call a captain's meeting. We'll discuss the matter and hopefully make arrangements for the search for the people on this list. And in the meantime I need for the three of you to get together with Hughes and search for anyone else that knew the people first hand."

"Right," Ed said, knowing that they needed as many people as possible who actually knew what the suspects looked like.

"We'll meet back here this evening and discuss what we've learned," Hitsugaya said, gazing at the three people seated on the sofa.

Ed, Al and Izumi all nodded their heads in agreement and with this decision made the quartet parted ways; Hitsugaya quickly made his way to the Squad One barracks while Ed, Al and Izumi began their search for their former comrades. Ed had to admit he was somewhat apprehensive about alchemy becoming public knowledge but it was necessary and it wasn't as though the Shinigami would be able to learn all that quickly.

Hitsugaya was an exception after all.

"Besides," the young man thought to himself. "People are dying so nothing matters except ending this as quickly as possible."

A/N - and there's another chapter. I apologize for the fact that this one is fairly uneventful but we're working toward the 'events'. Hope that you enjoyed, please leave a review and tell me what you thought.


	18. Searching and Planning

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Eighteen - Searching and Planning

"So Edward," Izumi began in a seemingly calm voice as she and her two former students left the Seireitei and made their way out to the Rukongai, where they had been charged with finding anyone who could identify the people on their suspect list.

Or better yet, finding someone who was actually ON the suspect list.

That would be most helpful.

"What is it Teacher?" Ed asked, turning a questioning gaze to the woman who had helped both him and his brother refine their alchemical skills. Her training had been beyond rough but the woman still held a very special place in his heart.

"Tell me how exactly you and Alphonse ended up dead."

"....."

Ed drew up short and it was obvious, by the look on his face, that he didn't really want to answer that question. However it was also obvious, from the look that Izumi was giving him, that she wasn't about to drop the issue. Knowing that he was beat and resigned to his fate Edward took a deep breath. "It was an automobile accident."

"And you were driving?"

"Yes," Ed replied, mistaking her calm voice for one of understanding.

"What... The... HELL.... were you thinking?!" Ed's face paled as he heard these words escape her lips and he made a move to run for his life... okay for his after life, but Izumi was just as quick as he remembered from his days of training with her. She seized the boy by the wrist and effortlessly flipped him onto his back. Hitting the ground hard Ed gasped as the breath was knocked out of him.

"Nii-san!" Al exclaimed, running over and kneeling at his brother's side.

Not willing to allow Al to escape the punishment that she had planned Izumi seized the younger boy, who was soon lying on the ground beside his brother. "You should have known better than to let him drive!"

"We're sorry Teacher!" the two boys said in one voice. In all honesty Ed knew that he really should have expected something like that from his teacher but he had been too preoccupied by thoughts of the Hollow chimera. And obviously his teacher had been as well or else the confrontation wouldn't have taken so long.

"Get on your feet," Izumi ordered, gazing down at the two boys. "We have a job to do."

"Yes ma'am," the two boys said, jumping to their feet.

"Let's go."

"Right."

All thought of Izumi's outburst seemed to be forgotten as they made their way through District One of the Rukongai. They knew that the search was going to be difficult, since the Rukongai had Eighty Districts, which was why they had enlisted the help of Hughes.

He was still on guard duty but would resume the search as soon as his shift ended. Ed, Al and Izumi all planned to split up once they had thoroughly searched District One but even then there were only four of them. The search would be long and extremely time consuming.

And, unfortunately, time was the one thing that they didn't really have.

"You boys had best be careful," Izumi warned as she prepared to part ways with her rather wayward students. She glared at each boy in turn, hoping to impress upon them the severity of the situation. Both boys nodded, not wanting to relive their earlier experience, and the group went their separate ways.

"This is going to take forever," Ed complained, one hand instinctively resting upon the hilt of his zanpaktou.

He had been less than enthusiastic about the suggestion of splitting up but the rational part of his brain knew that they really couldn't afford to go about it any other way. They had to conduct the search as quickly as possible and with their small numbers that meant that they had to divide up and go their separate ways.

"This wouldn't be happening if I had just learned to drive!" Ed screamed out to nobody.

The inhabitants of District Two gazed at the blond haired Shinigami as though he had lost his mind but none of them spoke. It was in their nature to leave Shinigami alone and they weren't about to change that now, especially not when said Shinigami was crazy.

* * *

After the trio from Amestris departed to search the Rukongai, Captain Hitsugaya also departed Squad Ten. His destination was the Squad One barracks, needing to speak to Head Captain Ukitake about the current situation. The other captains would have to be made aware and, consequently, their subordinates.

Having fought the strange Hollow first hand Hitsugaya had to admit, although he would never make such an admission out loud, that he was somewhat concerned about the situation. The beast had contained the powers of several Hollow which would pose a problem for the lower ranked Shinigami.

And, if the culprit's experimentation was allowed to continue, it wouldn't be long before the Hollow that they created would pose a problem for the officers as well.

This situation had to be dealt with and the culprit apprehended before something like that came to pass or else it could spell trouble for both Soul Society and the world of the living. Shaking his head Hitsugaya ran a hand through his unruly white hair. And, as if all of this wasn't bad enough, this situation was actually forcing him to request that the blond haired menace be moved temporarily to Squad Ten.

"I can't believe that I'm actually going to make such a request," he muttered to himself as he reached out and knocked on Ukitake's door. That was a sure sign of the severity of the situation.

"Enter."

The young captain slid the office door open and stepped inside. As usual Head Captain Ukitake was seated at his desk, working on a stack of paperwork that was positioned in front of him. Hitsugaya bowed politely and then approached his superior.

"Toushirou," Ukitake said, a questioning gaze appearing in his eyes. It was obvious that he hadn't been expecting a visit from the young captain and was curious as to what had brought him here. "Is there something that I can help you with?"

"Yes," Hitsugaya said as he came to a stop in front of the Head Captain's desk. "Forgive me for the abruptness of this request but we need to have a captain's meeting as soon as possible. I've encountered something very troubling in the Rukongai and I think that the other captains should be made aware of the situation."

It wasn't obvious in the young captain's tone but Ukitake had known Hitsugaya long enough to recognize when the kid was concerned about something. And if whatever he had encountered was bad enough to evoke this level of worry from the young captain then it was enough to ensure that Ukitake took it seriously.

"I'll send out Hell butterflies to all of the captains immediately," he said, getting to his feet. "We should be able to have them all assembled within the hour."

Hitsugaya nodded. "Thank you very much sir."

A/N - It's short and also a filler chapter but I need some in put from the people reading this before I continue on with the story. There is currently a poll on my profile page so if you would all be so kind as to go and take it the story can hopefully continue soon. Thanks for your help and, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


	19. Extinguished Flame

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Nineteen - Extinguished Flame

"So what are the chances that we'll actually find people that we know out here?" Edward asked as he and Al followed along behind their teacher.

Having lived in Rukongai for several years Izumi was more familiar with the layout and thus made a better guide. Besides this she absolutely refused to follow along behind her two idiot apprentices.

"Well you've already met up with myself and Mr. Hughes," Izumi said, not even bothering to turn around to address her student. "So I'd say that the chances are fairly good. Besides which, even if we are unsuccessful, there is still the high likelihood that we'll run into some more of the modified Hollow."

"You have a point," Ed was forced to admit. And she did have a point but that didn't mean that he had to be happy about traipsing around in the Rukongai searching for people that might be familiar with this new and dangerous breed of Hollow.

It reminded him too much of his days in the Amestris State Military and that was something that he didn't even want to think about.

Al, on the other hand, didn't seem to be bothered by this sense of déjà vu. "If we find more of the modified Hollow then there's also the chance that we can locate the person responsible for their creation."

"That may be wishful thinking," Ed muttered, knowing that this scenario was far too ideal to actually come to pass.

No, the search for the person responsible was going to be long and labor intensive. The young Shinigami wasn't exactly certain why it was that he felt this way but the feeling was there, despite the fact that he couldn't explain it.

After this the group fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts. Izumi continued to lead the way through the Rukongai, followed by the two boys. Their progress was quick and they soon reached District Ten.

Ed had noticed that the conditions seemed to grow progressively worse the further out they went but he hadn't seen any horrible conditions yet. He knew, from conversations with other Shinigami, that the outer districts were truly horrific but he had yet to get first hand experience of that.

He hadn't really thought so at the time but Ed now realized that he and his brother had been exceedingly lucky. They had been transported to one of the upper districts and had been found almost immediately. He may not be happy about who it was that had found them but the young man did recognize the fact that it had been a stroke of luck.

Not that he would ever admit this fact to that smug little brat. Their tentative truce wouldn't allow it.

"Brother!"

Ed snapped out of his thoughts and glanced toward his brother. The taller boy was pointing toward the sky above them and Ed instinctively shifted his gaze skyward.

He immediately realized why it was that his brother sounded so alarmed. Several Hollow were hovering in the air above them and Ed could tell, by their reiatsu, that they were more of the modified version that he and Hitsugaya had encountered.

"Well," Ed said as he drew his zanpaktou and prepared to fight. "I suppose that it was only a matter of time before we were forced to fight."

"Yea," Al said as he too drew his weapon. He wasn't entirely sure how useful his particular skill set would be in this position but he wanted to offer his brother what support he could. And knowing Ed his healing abilities would eventually be required. "It was too much to ask that we be allowed to search in peace."

Ed nodded as he held up his miniature sword. "Shine the light of truth on my enemies, Hikari no Shinjitsu!"

The blade of the young man's zanpaktou was engulfed in a familiar light as it transformed into the familiar staff. Ed held up his bladed weapon and prepared to fight the assembled enemies. "Like I'm gonna be beaten by the likes of you."

This said Ed leapt forward and engaged the modified Hollow in battle. Al quickly followed suit, although he didn't call upon his own Shikai. It wouldn't really be helpful in this particular situation.

The battle was fierce but the two young Shinigami quickly cut the number of Hollow in half. Taking deep breaths the two brothers stood back to back, facing off against the beasts that remained.

"This is a little more of a workout than I thought it would be," Ed admitted as he pressed his back against that of his brother. When facing this many opponents it was always best to have your partner's back and the Elric brother's had perfected this tactic.

"You've always been such a magnet for trouble Fullmetal…"

Ed froze as he heard a familiar voice… a voice that he hadn't expected to ever hear again.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" the young man exclaimed, his eyes narrowing as he watched a man step from behind a building. While it was true that he and his companions were searching for people who would be familiar with alchemy and those who could perform it, this was absolutely the last person that he had wanted to find. So of course, his luck being what it was, he was the first person that they came across.

"It's the colonel!" Al exclaimed, his gaze also turning toward the sound of the familiar voice. He watched as Colonel Roy Mustang stepped from behind a building, his customary smirk plastered on his face. "I get the feeling that this was the last person on the planet that Brother wanted to find out here."

Al knew that the black haired man could help in their fight against the modified Hollow, as well as their search for the beasts' creator, but of course Edward wouldn't focus on the positive aspects of the situation. He would be too busy remembering all of the unpleasant things that the colonel had forced them to endure.

"Could this situation get any worse?" Ed moaned as he launched himself forward. Fueled by his irritation over the arrival of Colonel Mustang the young man tore into the Hollow with renewed vigor. Which resulted in several dead Hollow and the end of the battle.

"Wow," Mustang said as he walked over to the spot where the Elric brothers were standing. "You fight pretty well for a pipsqueak!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING…"

Leaping forward Al placed his hand over his brother's mouth before Ed had the chance to finish his little tirade. "Please sir, pay no attention to him."

Mustang shrugged, which only increased Ed's irritation. How dare that arrogant bastard dismiss him so easily.

"So what the hell are you doing here anyway?" the blond Shinigami asked, his golden eyes narrowed as he glared at his former superior.

Mustang shrugged once again. "I found myself here after my rather unfortunate demise."

"And what exactly killed the great Flame?" Ed asked, allowing his zanpaktou to revert to it's sealed form. Although his first impulse had been to turn the blade on Mustang he ultimately decided against that course of action.

He hated to admit it; oh how he hated it, but the man really could prove useful.

The smirk fell from Mustang's face as he seemed to ponder this question from his former subordinate. He remembered the incident well but it wasn't really something that he wanted to discuss.

Especially not with Edward Elric.

"He died in the heat of battle," a new voice called out, once again causing all eyes to return to the building from behind which Mustang had emerged.

"I know that voice too," Ed thought.

"Hawkeye," Mustang snapped, hoping desperately that she wasn't about to tell these two brats what had happened.

It was too horrible to even think about.

"So I take it that the two of you died together?" Izumi said, speaking for the first time since the two military officers had arrived on the scene.

"That's correct," Riza Hawkeye said politely. "We were fighting a group of rebels who didn't like the way the government was being ran when…"

"There was a fiery explosion," Mustang broke in, waving his arms for effect.

"So you were killed by the rebels?" Al asked, gazing at the colonel.

Hawkeye rolled her eyes. "I said he was killed in the heat of battle, not as a result of it. The colonel was knocked into the lake by the after shock of an explosion and I jumped in to help."

"So let me get this straight," Ed said, an image of the scene unfolding in his mind. He was fairly certain that he knew where the lieutenant was going with this story and, if he were right in his assumption, then what happened to the colonel was even more pathetic than his own death. "The colonel drowned?"

Mustang wanted desperately to deny it but, with Lieutenant Hawkeye there, he knew that he couldn't. So, without looking at his former subordinate, the colonel ran his hand through his black hair and gave a barely perceptible nod.

Deep down Ed knew that it was wholly insensitive to laugh at Colonel Mustang but he simply couldn't help himself. That cause of death was just too ironic to ignore. "So the Flame was effectively extinguished huh?"

"Shut up," Mustang snapped, his black eyes narrowing as he finally gazed in Ed's direction. "Forget about how exactly that I died. What can you tell me about those creatures?"

Ed desperately wanted to continue to give the colonel a hard time but he managed to fight the urge. It took every once of self control that he possessed but Ed managed to corral himself long enough to tell Mustang about the modified Hollow and the fact that someone was using alchemy to make them."

"So do you think that you can help us colonel?" Al asked, marveling that his brother had actually managed to explain the situation. Perhaps spending time with his rival was having a positive effect on Ed.

"So alchemy is possible in this world?" Mustang asked as he thought about the words of the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Ed nodded. "It's different, due to the difference in structure here, but it is possible." And to demonstrate the fact Ed clasped his hands together and transmuted a nearby tree branch into a small, wooden carving.

Mustang nodded as he watched the kid's transmutation. It was the most basic of alchemy but the fact that it was possible in this world was great. "We'll do what we can to help," the colonel said, gazing over at Hawkeye.

The lieutenant nodded.

"Thank you," Al said, having always been the more polite of the two brothers. "We're grateful."

"Humph," was all that Ed would say.

_"This is going to be a very interesting alliance,"_ Al thought to himself as he watched his brother and Colonel Mustang exchange annoyed looks with one another. Both would be useful in battle but Al wasn't entirely sure that the others would be able to handle their constant fighting.

A/N - Look it's an update! I realize that it's been forever since I updated this but first there was that poll and then my laptop died, taking with it all of my work. Thankfully my brother recovered the info and my mother and best friend bought me a new laptop. So let the story continue.


	20. Reunion

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

A/N - I'm glad to see that, even after a long absence, this story still has fans. Thanks for your reviews!

Chapter Twenty - Reunion

After combing through a few more districts Izumi suggested that they should all go back to the Seireitei. It was beginning to grow late and, since the search was difficult in the daylight, it would be exponentially harder to conduct a thorough search in the dark.

"I think we should call off our search for the night," the black haired alchemist said, turning her gaze to the four people who were following along behind her. "We aren't likely to find anything further tonight and we should report to Captain Hitsugaya that we found a couple of allies."

Ed was reluctant to end their search, since he was hoping to find someone easier to deal with than Colonel Mustang, but he realized that his teacher had a very valid point. It wouldn't be productive to roam around in the dark so, with a heavy sigh, he nodded his head.

"Let's go back," the blond Shinigami youth said, picking up his pace and coming to walk beside his teacher. He had been content to allow Izumi to lead the way while they were traveling through the Rukongai but now that they were returning to the Seireitei his leadership qualities kicked in.

After all, he'd always been a leader and not a follower.

"So who is this captain that we're reporting back to Fullmetal?" Mustang asked, his black eyed gaze locked onto his former subordinate. "Are you involved in some kind of military organization in this world as well?"

"Something like that," Ed replied grudgingly. "And Captain Hitsugaya is the one heading up this little task force to track down the person responsible for creating the chimera Hollow."

Mustang picked up on the veiled note of irritation in Ed's voice, having heard it on numerous occasions. "I take it that you're not fond of this captain?"

"I'm not getting into that with you," Ed growled, which was as good as saying yes.

"Hmm," Mustang said thoughtfully. "If he annoys you this badly then I think I'm going to like him."

"I wouldn't count on that," Ed muttered as he continued to walk.

* * *

When the group returned to the Seireitei, Ed quickly led the way to the Squad Ten barracks. He wanted to get this meeting over as soon as possible and this desire fueled his steps.

A familiar figure was standing at the entrance to the Squad Ten courtyard and Ed watched as Mustang drew up short.

"Damn," the boy thought to himself as he saw disbelief play across the colonel's face. "I should have warned him about that."

It only took a couple of seconds for the shock to wear off and Mustang strode forward and pulled Hughes into a one armed embrace. It had been a shock seeing the friend that had been dead for several years but, since he was dead himself, it wasn't overly hard to believe.

"Hey Roy," Hughes said, slightly more surprised than his best friend. For his part he hadn't expected to see Mustang in this world, having always viewed the man as incredibly lucky and somewhat indestructible. "It's been awhile."

"It has," Mustang said as he pulled away from his friend and stared into his eyes. "What the hell were you thinking, taking them on alone?"

"I didn't want you to get involved," Hughes said in a quiet voice, thinking about the decision that had in effect ended his life. In the time that he had spent in the Seireitei he had gone over and over this decision in his mind and had finally came to the conclusion that he had done the right thing. "You're not the most rational person in the world Roy and I knew that you'd do something reckless."

"So that gave you permission to act reckless?" Roy said, glaring at his friend.

"Yes," Hughes said.

At a loss for words Roy merely shook his head. He shouldn't be surprised by Hughes' words but for some reason he was.

"Um guys," Ed said, stepping forward. "I hate to break up this reunion but…"

"Of course!" Hughes exclaimed, suddenly remembering the mission that they had all been charged with. "You have to report to the captain! He's in his office."

"Of course he is," Ed muttered to himself as he began walking toward the barracks. "When is he not?"

"You should be nicer to him Ed," Hughes said in a fatherly tone. "After all he is your temporary commanding officer."

"What?!" Ed exclaimed, whirling on Hughes with a dangerous look in his eyes.

"Oops," Hughes said, realizing that, since Ed had been in the Rukongai when the decision had been made, naturally Ed didn't know about it yet. "Should have thought that one through a little better."

The expression on the young man's face was comical and Mustang couldn't help but chuckle.

"Shut it!" Ed snapped, turning to glare at his former superior over his shoulder.

"_Just like old times," _Al thought to himself, practically seeing the lightening bolts that were shooting back and forth between his brother and the colonel.

Ed led the way down the hall to the Squad Ten office, where he briefly paused to knock on the door. Normally he would have foregone this gesture of politeness but due to the circumstances he decided that he should probably show as much respect as he was capable of.

"Enter."

Mustang's left eyebrow arched as he heard the voice that was calling out to them from within the office. It had sounded stern, like many military officers that he had known, but there was also a strange quality to it that he just couldn't figure out.

"There's something strange…"

This thought was interrupted when Ed opened the door and motioned for the group to follow him inside the office. They complied, with Mustang and Hawkeye bringing up the rear, and the colonel's eyes widened as his gaze fell upon the person sitting behind the desk.

"H… he's puny!"

"What?!" both Ed and Hitsugaya exclaimed, narrowing their eyes as their gazes simultaneously fell upon the colonel.

"Colonel!" Lieutenant Hawkeye exclaimed, completely mortified by his little outburst.

"Please ignore him Captain," Hughes said, coming to the rescue of all parties involved. "Sometimes, okay most of the time, Roy speaks before he thinks. He's never really had that filter between your brain and your mouth that tells you when you're not supposed to say something."

Hitsugaya gave a long suffering sigh before turning to address Ed. "So I take it these two are people that you knew while you were alive?"

Ed nodded. "Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye. We served together in the Amestris State Military."

"Um excuse me Fullmetal," Mustang said, his voice reminiscent of his military days. "But don't you mean that you served under me in the Amestris State Military?"

"Damn it!" Ed exclaimed, now wishing that he had chosen to search a different region of Rukongai. He really had to be the most unlucky person in the world to have to endure Colonel Sarcasm all over again. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"Calm down," Hitsugaya ordered, getting to his feet and joining the group standing in the middle of his office.

"Wow," Mustang said as he gazed at the white haired boy who had came to stand beside Ed. "So you finally found someone who is shorter than you huh Fullmetal?"

"Can I kill him?" Ed asked, his voice low and deadly as he glared at the colonel.

"Not right now," Hitsugaya said, having more success hiding his irritation. "For now we need to discuss plans to track down the people responsible for creating the modified Hollow."

"Fine," Ed said, clenching his hands into fists. Pushing his anger at Mustang to the back of his mind, to be dealt with later, he spoke. "So how was your meeting with Head Captain Ukitake?"

"Well," Hitsugaya said, running a hand through his unruly white hair. "Until we're able to solve this problem you're a temporary member of Squad Ten. Other than that the Head Captain said that he would give us what help he could but it's largely up to us to find out who is responsible since the culprit is using alchemy. After all there are only a select few in Soul Society who can perform alchemy."

"Right," Ed said, having guessed as much. Shaking his head and rolling his eyes the blond youth turned to his former commanding officer. "Like it or not you're going to have to be a part of this team. And I'm pretty sure that neither of us is going to like it."

"On the contrary Fullmetal," Mustang said, an annoyingly smug expression appearing on his face. "I think I'm going to enjoy this thoroughly."

Ed growled low in his throat, Mustang's smugness annoying him just as much as it always had.

"Enough," Hitsugaya said, feeling the beginnings of a headache forming. "It's late so you're all dismissed for the night. We'll meet back here first thing in the morning and plan out our next move."

"Right," the group said.

"And Elric," Hitsugaya said, his teal eyed gaze locked on his temporary subordinate and constant rival.

"What is it?" Ed asked.

"Make sure that our guests are comfortable," the young captain said.

"Wait a minute," Ed said, not liking what was being implied. "They are not my responsibility."

"As of now they are," Hitsugaya said and, without so much as another word, the young man turned and walked away.

"One of these days," Ed muttered under his breath, clenching his hands into fists.

"Battle of the midgets," Mustang commented, a smile appearing on his face as he got a mental image of the two boys fighting. "Now that's something that I'd pay to see."

"Who are you calling a midget?" Ed screamed as he once again whirled around to face Mustang. His eyes were blazing and for a second it looked as thought he was going to attack. His reiatsu flared as he debated drawing his zanpaktou.

"Uh that would be you," Mustang said.

"Nii-san," Al said, stepping in before his brother really did attack the colonel. "We should go."

Ed took a couple of deep breaths before he nodded.

"How about we all go out?" Hughes proposed, attempting to lighten the mood. "To celebrate this reunion."

Ed would rather not celebrate being reunited with Colonel Sarcasm but for some reason he nodded his head in agreement. Maybe it was to make Hughes happy or maybe there was another reason behind it.

He really couldn't say.

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Hawkeye said.

"Then it's decided," Hughes said.

"Okay," Mustang said, the smug expression still on his face. "But it's your treat."

"Has to be," Hughes retorted, offering his friend a smile. "You don't have any money."

"Oh," everyone exclaimed as the smug expression left Mustang's face.

"Come on," Hughes said. "I know the perfect place."

Everyone nodded and together the group left the Squad Ten compound and followed Hughes across the Seireitei. And as he walked along beside his friend Mustang couldn't help but think how strange it was to be with his friend and not have Hughes shoving pictures of his family in his face.

This thought caused the colonel to draw up short as he realized that Hughes hadn't once mentioned the family that he had left behind when he died.

_"It must be painful for him to think about them,"_ Mustang thought to himself.

"Come on Roy," Hughes called out, a smile on his face as he beckoned his friend forward.

"Coming."

A/N - and here's another chapter. Two in one week to make up for the story's absence. And a shout out to Evilhumour Author for suggesting the whole 'battle of the midgets' thing. Hope that you enjoyed, please leave a review and tell me what you thought.


	21. Clues to Follow

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Twenty-One - Clues to Follow

A couple of days had passed since the arrival of Mustang and Hawkeye to the Seireitei. The two former military officers had settled in fairly well however Ed was doing everything in his power to avoid them.

Or, to be more precise, he was doing everything in his power to avoid Mustang.

After all he knew that it was only a matter of time before he was forced to be in the man's presence for unbearable lengths of time so he felt the need to mentally prepare himself for this.

"Where exactly are we going Nii-san?" Al asked as he followed his brother through the Seireitei. Ed had said that they were going for a walk but he had been elusive as to their exact destination.

"To the Rukongai," Ed replied shortly.

"And why exactly are we going there?" Al wanted to know. "We're supposed to meet with Captain Hitsugaya at noon."

"We'll be back in plenty of time for that," Ed said, waving his hand dismissively. He well remembered the fact that his temporary commanding officer had scheduled a meeting but he needed some time away before that.

"Is something the matter Ed?" Al was familiar with his brother's moods and could tell, even though the older boy was trying to hide it, that Ed wasn't in the best of moods.

Ed sighed as he continued to walk toward the gate that separated the Seireitei from the Rukongai. "I just wish that we could get this whole mess straightened out so that things can go back to the way they were."

"Hmm," Al said, a thoughtful expression in his eyes. "We'll figure out who's making the chimera Hollow and then we'll kick their butts."

Ed nodded, a small smile appearing on his face. He knew that Al was just saying that in an attempt to cheer him up but he appreciated the gesture none the less. His younger brother had always been the more optimistic of the two but the brothers balanced one another out nicely. "I know we will Al."

Al could tell that his words helped a small degree but he could also tell that Ed was still not completely over his foul mood. Maybe the walk would help him take his mind off of things. "So what are you most looking forward to once all this is over?"

"Going back to Squad Five," Ed replied without a moment's hesitation. "And kicking that guy Tomori's ass."

Al thought back to the Squad Five member who had been giving Ed a hard time ever since he'd joined the ranks of the Shinigami. He was also the reason why Ed had sought out the help of Captain Hitsugaya, which had lead to the duel fighting/alchemy lessons.

"You're still hung up on that?" Al asked, even though he wasn't surprised in the slightest. His brother had always been one to hold a grudge so it was only natural for this trait to carry on after death.

"Yes!" Ed exclaimed, clenching his hands into fists. "I'm going to knock that smug look off of his face if it's the last thing that I ever do."

Al couldn't help but smile at these words. They were almost the exact words that he'd once used in regards to Captain Hitsugaya. But thankfully the two of them seemed to have reached a tentative truce after the discovery of the modified Hollow.

Which was a good thing due to the arrival of Colonel Mustang.

Al wasn't sure if he could handle the yelling from all fronts. And no matter how diplomatic Hughes could be Al had the feeling that even that wouldn't be enough.

With Ed leading the way the two brothers made their way out to the very spot in the Rukongai where they had been found by the Shinigami upon arrival in Soul Society. Sitting down under a tree Ed pulled his legs toward his chest and wrapped his arms around them in a protective manner. The blond Shinigami placed his head upon his knees and stared ahead, seemingly lost in thought.

"This could be dangerous," Al thought to himself as he sat down beside his brother. This thoughtful side of Ed scared him and he made the decision to keep a close eye on the older boy.

Just in case.

The Elric brothers sat in silence for awhile, each lost in his own thoughts. They had been enduring one ordeal after another since their arrival in the Soul Society and Al found himself vaguely wondering what was going to happen to them next.

"Bad luck seems to follow us around," Al thought to himself with a sigh.

In the days to come Al would think back to these words and wonder if perhaps he had a bit of psychic power. For the very moment that he had the thought he saw a flaming ball fly through the trees toward them.

"Look out!" Al screamed as he knocked his brother out of the way.

Both of the Elric boys rolled across the ground, rising to face the smoldering remains of the tree that they had been leaning up against mere seconds before.

"What the hell?" Ed exclaimed in an irate voice. He jumped to his feet and grabbed the hilt of his zanpaktou. His searching gaze swept across his surroundings but he couldn't seem to locate his attacker.

"Someone's out to get you," Al muttered as he too drew his sword.

"You've got that right Shinigami boy," a sinister voice called out.

"Come out here and face me you bastard," Ed screamed, once again looking for any signs of the person that had attacked him and his brother.

He loathed people who attacked in such a cowardly manner.

"Have it your way."

A flash of light temporarily blinded the two youths and then, once their eyes adjusted, they saw two Hollow standing before them. These were smaller than the ones that they were accustomed to facing and had a more human appearance.

"That's the one that we're supposed to kill," the taller of the two snarled, pointing toward Ed.

"Oh great," Ed said as he held up his zanpaktou. Why was it that people always had issues with him? "I don't even know you guys and you still wanna kill me."

"Nothing personal," the shorter of the Hollow said, a sadistic grin appearing on his face. "Just orders."

"So who the hell ordered you to kill me?" Ed demanded as he activated his Shikai and held up his newly formed staff.

"I'm afraid that's privileged information," the taller Hollow snarled as he lunged toward Ed.

Ed sighed and twirled his staff, striking the Hollow across the face with the blunt end of the blade. He was hoping that if he beat the snot out of the Hollow then it would see fit to tell him who exactly had ordered this attack.

"Pitiful."

While Ed was occupied with the first Hollow the second of the pair decided that this would be the opportune time for him to attack. Holding up a pair of razor sharp claws he dashed toward the blond Shinigami boy.

"No you don't!" Al exclaimed, blocking the blow before it reached his brother.

"What the hell is wrong with you Elric?" an icy voice called out, causing Ed to pause mid swing and gaze up.

"Reign over the frosted, frozen sky, Hyourinmaru!"

Ed watched as the by now familiar ice dragon struck both his opponent and the Hollow that Al was fighting. Both were knocked back and issued screams a second before they disintegrated.

"We could have taken care of it ourselves," Ed huffed as Hitsugaya came to stand in front of him.

"Sorry about that," Al apologized, bowing politely to the white haired captain. "Thanks for your help."

Hitsugaya nodded and turned his attention back to Ed. "You probably could have taken care of it," he admitted. "But we have a meeting."

"Damn it!" Ed exclaimed, having completely forgotten about the fact that he and Al were supposed to meet with the other members of the team.

"I expected you to forget," Hitsugaya said, rolling his teal eyes. "Now come on. We're going to train after the meeting."

"Train?"

"Mustang and Hawkeye need to learn to at least partially control their reiatsu," Hitsugaya said as he sheathed Hyourinmaru and began walking down the path toward the Seireitei. "And we all need to work on alchemy."

"Right," Ed said, realizing that they would need every advantage that they could get in order to beat the person responsible for the modified Hollow.

The trio walked in silence for a few minutes and then Ed drew up short, causing the other two boys to stop and stare at him in confusion.

"What is it Nii-san?" Al asked, slightly concerned for his brother.

"Those Hollow," Ed said, a thoughtful expression in his golden eyes as he thought back to the words the Hollow had spoken before the battle. "They said that they were ordered to kill me."

"By whom?" Hitsugaya demanded.

"They wouldn't tell me that part," Ed admitted. Then he narrowed his eyes. "But I might have been able to persuade them to cooperate if you hadn't killed them first."

"Doesn't matter," Hitsugaya said, shrugging his shoulders. "We'll find the person responsible. And I think that this might prove to be a useful clue."

"Glad to see that you're so worked up over the fact that someone wants me dead," Ed growled.

"Tch."

"And they're back to normal," Al thought to himself as they continued on their way toward the Seireitei. He wasn't sure if he was happy about this or not.

A little of both perhaps.

* * *

"So there are the slackers," Mustang said smugly as the trio entered the Squad Ten office.

"Shut it Colonel Sarcasm," Ed snapped as he walked across the room and sat down on one of the two sofas that were positioned in the center of the room. "You know, since I'm a Shinigami and you're not, in this world I outrank you."

"Keep dreaming pipsqueak."

"That's it!" Ed exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "I'm killing him!"

"Calm down," Hitsugaya snapped, using every ounce of self control that he possessed not to freeze them both. "We have work to do."

Ed reluctantly sat down and the meeting commenced. Hitsugaya informed the group about everything that Squad Twelve had found out and then he made Ed recap his encounter with the Hollow in the Rukongai.

"So once again someone wants to kill you," Mustang said. "You really are a magnet for trouble Fullmetal."

Ed growled low in his throat but didn't bother to deny the accusation. Because as much as he disliked hearing it from Mustang the fact remained that it was true.

"So," Hitsugaya said, gazing at the assembled group. They weren't exactly the easiest people to work with but they all had fairly decent reiatsu, not to mention most of them were alchemists. Annoying or not these were the people most likely to defeat the unknown enemy. "Keep the things that we discussed here in mind as you go about your training."

An evil glint appeared in Ed's golden eyes as he thought about training. While he could sense that Mustang possessed reiatsu the colonel didn't know how to use it.

"This is gonna be fun," he thought to himself with an evil laugh.

"I don't like the looks of that," Al thought to himself as he gazed at the maniacal expression on his brother's face. "I wonder what he's planning."

Al thought about it for the briefest of moments and then reached a conclusion. "On second thought, I don't think I wanna know."

A/N - and there's another chapter. Hope that you enjoyed, please be kind and leave a review.


	22. Fullmetal vs Flame: Round Two

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Twenty-Two - Fullmetal vs. Flame: Round Two

"This I've got to see," Hughes commented as he watched Ed and Mustang walking toward the Squad Ten practice grounds. The blond Shinigami had been ordered to teach Mustang how to control the reiatsu that he possessed and Hughes saw this as an opportunity for some entertainment.

As well as an opportunity for Ed to get a little revenge against Mustang for his years in the State Military.

"It's going to be a disaster," Al said as he too fell into step behind his brother and the colonel. He well remembered the last time that the two of them had fought and the resulting damage had been tremendous.

For her part Hawkeye remained silent as she made her way toward the practice grounds. She was well aware of the grudge between Mustang and Ed and was of the opinion that Al was correct.

It was going to be a disaster.

"Alright," Captain Hitsugaya said, appearing out of nowhere and shocking everyone. "Remember that you're training and not actually fighting."

Both Mustang and Ed's gaze swept over to Hughes, as though accusing him of telling the white haired prodigy about their past. Hughes shrugged, not bothering to deny the unspoken accusation.

After all, it was bad to lie.

"And you're going to have to fix anything that you happen to break," Hitsugaya said, his narrow eyed gaze focused on the two who would be going first.

"Right," Ed said, waving his hand dismissively. Personally he was of the mind that it would be worth having to clean up a mess to wipe that smug expression from Mustang's face.

Not that he would voice this out loud however. He wanted to be able to plead innocent later and that would be ruined if he spoke of his plans.

"I know what you're thinking Nii-san," Al called out as he, Hawkeye, Hughes, and Hitsugaya took up positions along the perimeter of the training grounds. "And it's not a good idea."

"I don't know what you're talking about Al," Ed called out as he and Mustang made their way to the center of the training grounds. Now Ed well remembered what had occurred the last time that he had fought against Mustang but this time he had a distinct advantage.

The fact that he could use both reiatsu and alchemy and, in this world, Mustang couldn't use either. The Flame Alchemist was virtually powerless.

"This isn't going to turn out well," Al muttered, shaking his head as he watched what could only be described as an evil grin spread across his brother's face.

"They're determined to fight aren't they?" Hitsugaya asked, turning his attention to Hughes.

Hughes nodded, confirming the suspicions of his captain. "As I told you they have a bit of a history and it doesn't look as though either of them are willing to just let it go."

With a sigh Hitsugaya used his flash-step and appeared beside the two men who were standing out on the battlefield. Both Ed and Mustang were surprised by his sudden appearance and turned questioning eyes in his direction.

"You," he said, pointing toward Mustang. "Since I don't want any casualties in this, and since I can't trust Elric, I'm going to show you how to use a few basic kidou moves. What the two of you decide to do after that is completely up to you."

"I can't believe you don't trust me," Ed said as he watched Hitsugaya and Mustang walking away from him.

"I can't believe you think that I would," Hitsugaya threw back over his shoulder. Honestly, what reason had the blond Shinigami ever given to make him think that he was trustworthy?

"That was uncalled for," Ed muttered. "And teaching him a few kidou moves won't change the outcome of this fight."

"When exactly did a training session turn into a battle?" Al muttered, hearing the words that his brother was shouting to Captain Hitsugaya.

"Did you honestly expect anything different from those two?" Hughes asked, his gaze focused on the spot where his friend was standing with the white haired captain. He had picked up on the reiatsu signal that Mustang gave off and was fairly certain that his friend had the potential to be powerful.

The only uncertainty in the equation was how quickly he could pick up the techniques.

Hitsugaya ran through the basics of kidou with Mustang, as well as a few of the spirit chants for the low level kidou spells, but it soon became apparent that the black haired man's attention was elsewhere. With a sigh he decided that the man would just have to learn things the hard way.

Perhaps he would learn faster if he were pushed in a battle, as had been the case with Ed. Then again this could result in grave bodily injury.

But one look at the smug man was enough to convince Hitsugaya that he didn't really care, one way or the other. If they were determined to beat each other's brains out then who was he to stop them?

"You may continue," he said, walking away without so much as another word.

"Careful Mustang," Ed said as he watched the Squad Ten Captain rejoin the others at the edge of the training grounds. "You're already on his bad side and that's not a good place to be."

"And why is that?" Mustang asked as he returned to his spot across from Ed. He was more than ready to get this fight underway.

"Because he'll freeze your ass in a split second," Ed replied, also eager to begin the battle. "And won't even bat an eye."

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience Fullmetal," Mustang said, that obnoxious smirk still plastered on his face.

"Not exactly," Ed muttered, making the decision not to draw his zanpaktou during this fight. That would make it way too unfair and, although the temptation was there, Ed could resist.

It wouldn't make that much of a difference to the outcome of this fight anyway. Even without the use of his sword Mustang didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell.

And knowing that was the greatest feeling in the world.

Deciding that it would be in his best interest to make the first move Mustang leapt into the air and began to shout the first spirit chant that came to mind.

Hughes smirked as he listened to the words that Mustang was saying. "Well that's oddly appropriate."

"What is?" Hawkeye asked, her gaze locked on the battle field.

That question was answered as Mustang exclaimed, "Red Flame Cannon!"

The group assembled around the battleground watched intently as a small ball of energy erupted from Mustang's hands. Unfortunately it was only half formed and fell to the ground a few feet away from Mustang.

"Well," Hughes said, shaking his head. "That really wasn't bad for a first attempt. At least he didn't blow himself up."

"Does that happen often?" Hawkeye asked, her eyes wide as her gaze briefly shifted to Hughes.

"More than you'd think," Hughes said, recalling his first attempt at Red Flame Cannon. It had not been pretty and he'd spent the next couple of hours in the infirmary.

"That was pitiful," Ed said with a laugh, holding his own hands out in front of him. He had allowed Mustang to make the first move, to make sure that he would actually be able to use kidou, but now it was time to show the man exactly how it was done. "Pale Fire Crash!"

Mustang's eyes widened as a streak of blue lightening flew toward him and he quickly threw himself out of the way. He landed on the ground with an audible thud and quickly turned his head aside, to avoid the flying debris from the attack.

And despite himself he was impressed.

Fullmetal had definitely grown more powerful since the last time that he'd seen the boy. Of course, Mustang would never admit to this fact out loud but that didn't make it any less true.

"You should keep your focus in a battle."

Glancing up at the sound of these words Mustang saw that the blond boy was in the air, once again holding out his hands. Knowing what was coming Mustang quickly spit out the spirit chant as fast as he could, firing Red Flame Cannon without a second to spare.

The red ball of energy flew through the air, colliding with the blue lightening bolt that Fullmetal had launched toward him. For a brief moment the two powers struggled against one another before they both exploded in a huge flash of light.

"Okay," Hitsugaya said, deciding to once again intervene before someone really did end up seriously injured. The fire that was snapping in both the combatants' eyes was signaling trouble and, after all, this little vendetta of theirs wasn't the reason that they were out here.

Using his flash-step the young captain once again appeared in the center of the battlefield, this time appearing between the two fighters. "Enough."

"That's not a very smart move shrimp," Mustang said, his arms held out in preparation for another attack. "You could get yourself seriously hurt appearing like that."

In response to this Hitsugaya leapt into the air, at the same time drawing the sword that he wore secured across his back. "Reign over the frosted, frozen sky, Hyourinmaru!"

A huge dragon comprised of ice and water erupted from the tip of the sword and circled around the white haired captain. Landing lightly on the ground Hitsugaya directed the dragon toward a target that had been set up at the far end of the training grounds. The target froze and shattered the instant the dragon collided with it.

Sheathing his sword in one fluid motion Hitsugaya turned back to Mustang. "You were saying?"

"Absolutely nothing," Mustang said, in awe of the power wielded by this kid who was even shorter than Fullmetal. Exactly what were these Shinigami?

"That's a good look for you," Ed said, a smirk appearing on his face. "And I warned you not to get on his bad side. Just be glad that you didn't have to fight him."

"Moving on," Hitsugaya said. "We still have training to do."

"Right," Ed said. Though he still had a grudge against Mustang, one that he wasn't likely to forget anytime soon, he fully realized that there were more important things to focus on right now. Like getting stronger so that when they found the person responsible for combining Hollow through alchemy they would actually stand a chance against them. For that reason he could put his grudge aside for now.

But only temporarily.

A/N - Hope that you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you thought. And I promise that we'll get back to the actual plot soon.


	23. Training

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Twenty-Three - Training

After the first so called training session between Ed and Mustang, Captain Hitsugaya decided that he would have to supervise things from now on. And the young prodigy also decided that Ed and Mustang wouldn't be training together anymore.

His first thought had been that the two of them would push each other to progress faster but now he knew better. The only thing that those two pushed each other to do was cause complete and utter destruction. Which Squad Four hadn't been happy about since cleaning up the mess had fallen to them. So, in an attempt to keep the peace, Hitsugaya paired Mustang with Hughes and told Ed to work with Hawkeye. And that would leave Al and Izumi to work together since they seemed to be the two who could get along with just about anyone. They were also the two least likely to need supervision, which was a plus. Hopefully those pairings would keep things from getting destroyed.

Or at least that was the thought process behind it. Only time would tell exactly how well it worked out.

Hitsugaya was sitting at his desk, thinking about the damage that could be caused by these training sessions, when he heard a knock on his door. The white haired captain felt a sense of dread descend upon him as his gaze shifted to the door and he briefly debated pretending not to be in the office.

Ultimately the young captain decided against this course of action and, with a sigh, called out, "Enter."

The door slid open and Hughes entered the office. Hitsugaya could hear other people speaking out in the hallway however his subordinate closed the door before any of the others could enter the office. The muffled sounds of complaints issued forth from the other side of the door but Hitsugaya couldn't hear what was being said and the young captain found that he liked it that way.

"I knew I liked him," Hitsugaya thought to himself as he watched the man walk across the office toward him.

"Captain," Hughes said as he came to a stop in front of his superior's desk. "I came to tell you that we're all going out to the training grounds since you wanted to know when we began our training."

"Thank you," Hitsugaya said, getting to his feet and grabbing Hyourinmaru. Securing the sword across his back the white haired captain came to stand beside his subordinate. "Let's get this over with."

"Right," Hughes said, a smile spreading across his face. He knew exactly why Hitsugaya wasn't looking forward to this training session since he knew exactly what Roy and Ed were like.

But hopefully things would go better this time around since the two alchemists would be kept separated.

Hughes and Hitsugaya left the office and joined the group who were assembled out in the hallway. Ed and Mustang were both scowling but everyone else seemed to be in a fairly good mood.

For the moment.

"It's going to be a long day," Hitsugaya thought to himself as the group proceeded to make their way out to the Squad Ten training grounds.

He could already feel the beginnings of a headache forming and the white haired youth absently rubbed at his temples with the tips of his fingers.

It didn't take very long for the group to arrive at the Squad Ten training grounds and, the moment the arrived, Hitsugaya placed a kidou barrier around the area. The last thing he needed was for the inhabitants of Soul Society to feel the reiatsu of his strange group and come to check things out.

That was a spectacle that he wanted to avoid at all costs.

After all the group of six that currently stood before him were more than enough to keep Hitsugaya occupied. And he was loathe to add any more to the mix.

"Alright," the young captain said, eying the group in warning. "Split up into your assigned pairs and pick a corner of the training grounds. And I warn you now, whatever you break you're responsible for fixing."

"It doesn't sound like he trusts us," Hughes said with a chuckle.

"It's not us," Al said, his gaze shifting back and forth between Ed and Mustang, who were glaring daggers at one another. "It's Nii-san and the colonel that he doesn't trust."

"That's right," Hawkeye said. "It's just guilt by association for the rest of us."

"That's correct," Hitsugaya said as he prepared to oversee the three training sessions that were about to begin. "And try to keep in mind that there is a dangerous enemy out there. We are training for a reason."

"Right," the group said as they split into their assigned pairs. Each group made their way to a different location, making sure to be a safe distance away from the other two groups, and began their training.

With his zanpaktou in hand Hitsugaya walked around the training area, keeping a watchful eye on each of the groups. They were training to defeat a tough enemy and he wanted to make certain that everyone learned as quickly as possible.

As well as make sure that none of them ended up needing a trip to the Squad Four barracks.

"Alright Roy," Hughes said, grateful for the first time that he was better at kidou than the use of his zanpaktou. "We'll begin with Red Flame Cannon because you've already managed to pull that one off. And because it suits your personality so well."

"Alright Maes," Mustang said, attempting to recall the spirit chant required for the use of Red Flame Cannon.

Holding out his hands Mustang called out the spirit chant and then watched as a red ball of energy erupted from his palms. This attempt was better than his last and Mustang watched as the kidou blast sailed toward the target.

And then sailed completely over it.

Mustang cringed as the burst of reiatsu collided with the invisible barrier that Hitsugaya had erected to conceal them from prying eyes.

"Don't worry about it Roy," Hughes said with a chuckle. "I actually know full fledged Shinigami who can't pull it off so your attempt really wasn't that bad."

"Hmm," Mustang said, his expression thoughtful.

Glad that he had chosen Hughes to teach the black haired annoyance Hitsugaya moved on to the next group, which consisted of Ed and Hawkeye. The golden haired Shinigami was explaining the concept of kidou to Hawkeye, who was gazing at him attentively.

"Alright," Ed said once he'd explained the concept of kidou and it's usage. "So are you ready to give it a try?"

Hawkeye nodded, prepared to give this one hundred percent of her effort to learning this kidou.

"Okay," Ed said, glad that he wasn't being forced to work with that flaming fool again. Hawkeye was much easier to deal with. "I have the perfect kidou for you. It's called Purifying Bullets."

Hitsugaya nodded as he heard the kidou that Elric intended to teach the woman named Hawkeye. This particular kidou shot bursts of reiatsu in all directions.

Continuing on his way the white haired captain made his way over to the spot where Al and Izumi were working together. And it only took one look at them to know that he didn't need to interfere.

"This may work out after all," Hitsugaya muttered to himself as he made his way over to the edge of the training grounds so that he could watch all three groups.

At least that was his thought until a kidou burst came directly toward him. Shaking his head the young captain held out his hand and effortlessly blocked the runaway kidou burst.

"Sorry about that short stack!" Mustang called out.

Hitsugaya had to resist the urge to use Hyourinmaru to freeze the man and settled for sending a glaring look his way.

"You'd better watch out Roy," Hughes said good naturedly the moment he saw the look that his captain was giving his best friend.

"Right," Mustang said although he didn't really think that the little guy could possible pose much of a threat. Not that he would say anything of course.

A/N - this chapter is kind of short but that's okay. I got a great mental image thinking about the group training together. Hope that you enjoyed!


	24. Rally the Troops

Disclaimer - I own neither Bleach nor Fullmetal Alchemist. Just having a little fun.

Chapter Twenty-Four - Rally the Troops

"Okay," Hitsugaya said, his gaze sweeping over the occupants of his office. His usual band of misfits were assembled, along with Matsumoto. He had kept his vice-captain out of most of the training sessions, because that would only have added to the trouble that he had to deal with. But today they were actually going out to scout for more of the modified Hollow so Matsumoto was joining them for the mission. "We're going to split up into two groups and go out in search of any signs of the modified Hollow."

"Excellent!" Ed exclaimed, glad that they were finally going to do something besides train. Of course he realized that training was necessary, since most of their forces were untrained, but it was starting to get on his nerves never the less. He'd never been one for sitting around when there was a threat. "We're finally going to see some action."

Hitsugaya's teal eyes focused momentarily on the blond Shinigami but chose not to comment. Instead he continued with his instructions. "Alright, Matsumoto, Al, Hughes and Izumi are going to be one group." The young captain paused at this point and sighed. "And the other three are with me."

"That's asking for trouble," Hawkeye thought to herself as her gaze shifted to the colonel and Edward. Neither looked overly happy with this assignment.

"Why the hell…" Ed began.

"Do I have to be on the same team as him?" Mustang finished.

"So that I can keep an eye on you both," Hitsugaya replied, his tone making it obvious that his decision was not up for debate. He had neither the time nor the inclination to listen to their whining. "Now let's go."

Both Mustang and Ed looked as though they would like nothing more than to say something else. However, for once, common sense won out and the pair managed to keep their mouths shut. Which shocked Hitsugaya somewhat. He'd been all but daring them to say something and was surprised when they didn't. But of course now was not the time to dwell on this shocking event. For now they had a job to do.

"Let's go," the young captain repeated.

"Right!" the group chorused.

The group walked together until they reached the gate that divided the Seireitei from the Rukongai. They paused at this point and Hitsugaya turned to the group and said, "Everyone be extremely careful."

"Right!"

And with this parting word the two groups split up, each going their separate ways. Hitsugaya led his group toward the spot where they had already encountered the modified hollow on a number of occasions. He wasn't certain if this location was important to whoever was responsible for the modification of the hollow but decided that it was worth checking into.

"If we run into anything try not to get in the way Colonel," Ed said, gazing at his former superior over his shoulder. His voice was practically dripping with sarcasm and there was a smirk on his face.

"I'll try to stay out of the way," Mustang said, his tone casual. "But I can't promise anything since I have the tendency to overlook you."

"Who are you calling a microscopic…"

"I swear," Hitsugaya growled, interrupting the rant. An icy wind began to circulate around the group as the white haired captain spoke. "If the two of you don't shut up I'll kill you both myself."

Both Ed and Mustang fell silent, seemingly aware of the dangers involved in continuing their fight. Hawkeye heaved a sigh of relief, glad that the colonel knew when to keep his mouth shut for once.

The group traveled along in silence for a little while, each member lost in their own thoughts. This peace was shattered however as a piercing cry echoed through the air.

"Damn," Hitsugaya muttered, drawing Hyourinmaru in one fluid motion. Ed drew his own zanpaktou and Mustang and Hawkeye held up their hands in preparation for kidou attacks.

Mere seconds passed and then a winged hollow descended, razor sharp talons aimed at the group. Swinging the blade of Hyourinmaru, Hitsugaya made short work of the hollow but he didn't relax. He knew from experience that there would be many more where that one had came from and it would be foolish to let his guard down.

Sure enough within minutes the skies were filled with similar hollow and the entire group was engaged in combat.

"Purifying bullets!" Hawkeye called out, holding out her hands and launching the spray of reiatsu. Several hollow were destroyed by the attack and the blond woman moved on to the next batch. And attempted to ignore the exhaustion that this attack brought on. Because, while she had learned the attacks fairly quickly, they took a lot of energy to execute.

"Red Flame Cannon!"

"Shine the light of truth upon my enemies Hikari no Shinjitsu!"

Holding up his newly formed staff Ed launched himself into the air and took out a group of hollow with one swipe.

"I must admit that I wasn't expecting this," a voice called out, causing the fighters to pause in their respective battles.

"I know that voice," Ed whispered, his golden eyes wide as he held up his staff. "But from where?"

"I don't really think that we have time to debate that right now," Hawkeye said, her gaze focused on yet another group of hollow.

"Shit!" Ed exclaimed as the second wave of Hollow descended upon them. They weren't very high level but what they lacked in power they made up for in sheer numbers.

"That's enough of this," Hitsugaya growled, holding up Hyourinmaru. "Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyourinmaru!"

The familiar dragon of ice and water erupted from the tip of the young captain's zanpaktou. Leaping into the air Hitsugaya directed the dragon and used it to completely annihilate the group of hollow.

"Wow," Mustang muttered, a new respect for the young captain forming. He hadn't realized that the kid was so powerful but now he was fully aware of the young captain's powers. And just how close he'd came to a second death by taunting him. "Won't make that mistake again," he thought to himself.

After he made short work of the hollow Hitsugaya scanned the terrain for the source of the voice. Because he was willing to wager that they were involved in the creation of the modified hollow. Using his flash-step Hitsugaya conducted a quick search of the area but came up with nothing.

Much to his displeasure the person seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"I know that I've heard that voice before," Ed muttered once Hitsugaya rejoined the group.

"But you can't place it?" Hitsugaya said, his teal eyes focused on the blond boy.

Ed shook his head. "It really seems like I should know but I can't place where I heard it or who it belonged to."

"Well while you think about it we should keep moving," Hitsugaya said, sheathing his zanpaktou. "Because now we know that they're out here."

"Right," the others said.

Ed allowed his sword to revert to it's sealed form and sheathed it before falling into step behind the others. The fact that the voice seemed familiar to him was really bugging the young man and he desperately wanted to remember where he had heard it.

Because he couldn't shake the feeling that the information was important.

A/N - Here's another chapter! Sorry that it took so long but I hope that you enjoyed!


	25. Ghosts of the Past

Disclaimer- I do not own Bleach or Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter Twenty-Five - Ghosts of the Past

Captain Hitsugaya continued to lead the way through the Rukongai, searching for anything that would be considered out of the ordinary. The attack earlier had put the white haired youth on guard and his gaze constantly shifted about as he walked, having no desire to endure another ambush.

"That was incredibly careless of me," the boy thought to himself, growling low in his throat. He still couldn't believe that he had actually allowed those stupid hollow to get the drop on him.

It was unacceptable.

For his part Ed was preoccupied with thoughts of the voice that had called out to them during the battle. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he knew the owner of the voice but for the life of him the face of the person refused to appear in his mind's eye. However this fact didn't stop the blond youth from going over in his mind every person that he had angered in his life.

And as he did so Ed realized, for perhaps the first time, exactly how long that list was.

"Wow," he couldn't help but think to himself. "I managed to piss off a bunch of people. And any one of them could be the person who's now using these stupid Hollow chimera to wreak havoc on Soul Society."

"Hey Fullmetal…"

Ed's thoughts were interrupted and he turned to glare at Mustang. Thinking about his rather long list of enemies had done nothing to improve his mood and this did not make him conducive to listening to Colonel Sarcasm. "What?" he snapped, fire snapping in his golden eyes.

"You know this isn't completely your fault right?"

Now Ed was shocked by these words, to say the very least, and he actually gaped at the black haired man. It was strictly involuntary and the youth wished that he could have hidden his reaction but it simply wasn't possible. His incredulity went away almost instantly however; the moment that Mustang opened his mouth again.

"I mean it's mostly your fault but there have to be other contributing factors." There was a smug expression on the man's face that made Ed want to punch him in the nose.

"You're a bastard, you know that?"

Mustang merely smirked, completely unconcerned by Ed's words. After all it wasn't as though the kid had ever really been able to get to him by words alone. Usually it took words coupled together with actions to get a rise out of the colonel.

"Would the two of you shut up?" Hitsugaya growled, turning to glare at his two subordinates over his shoulder. "Once we get to the bottom of this situation the two of you can fight it out and resolve your differences. But for now try to concentrate on the task at hand."

Ed was more than a little annoyed at being ordered around like that but also realized that their mission was important. "Fine," he muttered to Hitsugaya before turning his attention back to Mustang. "But this isn't over."

* * *

Meanwhile Hughes was leading his group through a different section of the Rukongai. This group was much more peaceful than it's counterpart and each member was focused on finding the person who was behind the creation of the modified Hollow. Because the sooner they did so then the sooner they could get on with their lives… or afterlives.

"Is anyone else a bit unnerved by the fact that we haven't encountered anything?" Hughes asked as he and the others made their way down a barely visible path.

"Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit odd," Izumi said in a thoughtful voice. "They have to know that we're here and that we're looking for them so why haven't they done anything to stop us?"

"Maybe we're lower down on their list of priorities," Al suggested, thinking of his older brother and the group that he was traveling in. He didn't want to say it out loud but they seemed like the much more likely targets.

"I assure you that isn't the case at all…"

Al's gaze shifted around, searching for this voice that didn't belong to anyone in their group. He was instantly on guard and couldn't shake the feeling that he had heard this voice at some point in the past.

But when… and where?

Of course Al didn't have any time to contemplate the answer to either of these questions. Within seconds he and the others were surrounded by a group of the modified Hollow… and they did not look happy.

"Let's see how your group fairs against my pets…"

"Who are you?" Al demanded, drawing his zanpaktou and scanning the area in search of the owner of the voice. Because, although it seemed familiar, he couldn't place it. It was as though the memories were buried and refused to surface. "Show yourself."

"Not part of the plan… But rest assured that you'll see me soon enough. That is assuming you can pass this little test."

"Red Flame Cannon!" Holding up his hands Hughes launched a kidou attack at the nearest Hollow. The creature gave a cry of pain a second before it disintegrated into dust.

Al knew that he needed to help his teammates and the boy pushed his thoughts about the stranger to the back of his mind. There would be time to think about that once the enemies had been dealt with.

* * *

"Do you feel that?" Ed's gaze whipped around as he felt a sudden and familiar flair in reiatsu.

"I do," Hitsugaya said with a nod. The rise in reiatsu could only signify one thing and the young captain quickly sprang into motion. Turning he began to run in the direction that the reiatsu was radiating from. "We should go and help them."

Ed nodded and quickly fell into step behind the white haired captain. He wasn't normally one for following orders without protest but this situation was different. His brother, as well as his friends, was engaged in battle and Ed couldn't handle the thoughts of anything happening to them.

Hence his uncharacteristic obedience.

"I swear if anything happens to him…" Ed didn't allow himself to finish this thought as he and the others used their flash-step to travel toward the site of the battle. He forced himself to remember that Al was a trained Shinigami and that he was with Hughes, Matsumoto and their sensei. That should be more than enough power to deal with the measly Hollow that they had been fighting.

Hopefully that was all that they were facing off against.

A/N - I'm sorry that it took me so long to update this story! Please forgive! Hope that you enjoyed even though it was short.


	26. Villain Emerges

Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach or Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter Twenty-Six - Villain Emerges

Captain Hitsugaya and his group quickly made their way to the spot where the reiatsu of the others was radiating from. It was obvious, from the rapidly changing reiatsu, that the group was involved in a battle. And this made the others want to reach their location as quickly as possible in case they needed assistance.

When they arrived it was to find Al and the others engaged in battle with more of the modified Hollow. The group was slightly larger than the one that had attacked Hitsugaya's group and the combatants were struggling to keep the upper hand. With a snarl Ed leapt forward, drawing his zanpaktou in one fluid motion.

"Get away from my brother you bastard!" the blond snarled, slashing at one large Hollow that was sneaking up on his younger brother. If there was anything that set his anger off it was someone threatening his brother. That, and being called short but that was a completely seperate matter. The Hollow gave a screech of pain before disintegrating.

"Sorry about that brother," Al apologized, turning grateful eyes to his older brother. "I didn't even see that one coming."

"Don't worry about it," Ed said, his golden eyes focused on the group of Hollow that seemed intent upon their destruction. "Let's just take care of these guys."

"Right." Al nodded his head and slashed at one of the modified Hollow that was making a move toward Izumi. Being a member of Squad Four Al wasn't really one for battles but that didn't mean that he wasn't capable of fighting when the necessity arose.

The addition of the other group served to take away the advantage that the Hollow had enjoyed. Screams resonated through the air as the creatures fell to the blades and kidou attacks of the combined forces of both groups.

In no time at all the combined efforts of the group brought an end to the assembled Hollow.

"Thank goodness you showed up when you did captain!" Matsumoto exclaimed, rushing forward to pull her superior into a rib crushing hug.

"Release me Matsumoto," the young captain snapped, pulling himself from her grasp. He didn't have time for her antics at the moment; there were still a few things that he wanted answers to. Like how the enemy had managed to track both of their groups and calculate attacks accordingly. Sheathing Hyourinmaru, Captain Hitsugaya turned to Al and the others who were in his group. "Is there anything that you can tell us about this attack?"

Al held a thoughtful expression in his eyes for a moment before an important bit of information seemed to spring to the front of his mind. "The person responsible spoke… and their voice sounded familiar for some reason. And they said that this was a test."

"That's similar to what happened with us," Ed pointed out, recalling the voice that he KNEW he should remember.

"Were you attacked as well Edward?" Hughes questioned, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two Elric brothers. It seemed that both of them had heard the voice of the person responsible for the Hollow chimera at some point. Which seemed fairly odd to the man.

"Our group was attacked by a large group of the modified Hollow," Ed confirmed. "But that isn't the part that's concerning. I know that I've heard that voice somewhere before but I can't place it…"

"Why Edward, I'm hurt."

The gazes of the group simultaneously went to the source of the voice and Ed gasped as he realized who it was. "Tucker," he snarled, glaring daggers at the man that he had met when first becoming a State Alchemist. The bastard who had turned his own daughter and her dog into a chimera.

Mustang, Hawkeye and Hughes all gasped in surprise as they realized that the person they had been pursuing was another former State Alchemist. A man who had been guilty of a horrific crime and someone that they hadn't expected to ever see again.

"So you do remember," Shou Tucker said, his gaze focused on the boy who had caused his ruin… as well as his demise. "That's good. Here I was thinking that the child prodigy had completely forgotten about me."

"You bastard!" Holding up his zanpaktou Ed leapt toward the man, only to be knocked back by some kind of invisible barrier. Crying out, both from surprise and pain, Ed fell to the ground.

"Brother!" Al rushed over to the spot where his brother had fallen and dropped to his knees at the older boy's side.

"I'm fine," Ed snarled, his glaring gaze still focused on Tucker.

"Tsk, tsk," Tucker said, waving one finger in the air and speaking as though he were addressing a small child. "We can't have you escaping Edward… I have plans for this group."

"The hell you do." Hitsugaya's voice was icy as he got to his feet, holding up the blade of Hyourinmaru. The young captain's teal eyes were locked onto the enemy, glad that the person responsible had finally been revealed. "Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyou…"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you captain," Tucker said, his gaze shifting to the white haired youth. There was a note of warning in his voice as he addressed not just the young captain but the entire group. "This barrier deflects reiatsu… you'll only end up sending your own attack rebounding toward you and your friends. But if you think they can survive then by all means, feel free. It'll be an interesting experiment."

Hitsugaya ceased the attack, not sure whether the man's words were the truth or not. He knew that there were powerful kidou barriers that could do what the man said but it would take a fairly powerful Shinigami to erect one. Not to mention the fact that it had been hidden from them until it was too late and they were already trapped within.

That had either taken a tremendous amount of skill on the part of one individual or the combined efforts of many.

"What the hell do you want?" Ed demanded, hatred for the man once again rising up to overwhelm him.

"I simply want to repay you for everything that you did for me Edward," Tucker replied with a somewhat demented smile. A crazy light seemed to be gleaming in the man's eyes as he stared at the young man. He had grown older since their last encounter however the boy's eyes were something that the man would never forget. "And there are others who would like to show their appreciation but they'll come out in due time."

"Damn it!" Ed and Hitsugaya swore in unison, both glaring at the enemy.

Who merely smirked.

A/N - Another chapter and the enemy has been revealed! Maybe… Anyway, hope that you enjoyed.


	27. Escape from the Barrier

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach.

Chapter Twenty - Seven - Escape from the Barrier

The very fact that they were apparently trapped annoyed Hitsugaya to no end and he paced around the barrier, his mind working overtime in an attempt to think of a way to escape. The man named Tucker had informed them that the barrier would deflect any reiatsu based attack that they launched at it but that didn't mean that there wasn't a way to escape. It just meant that they wouldn't be able to gain their freedom in the conventional sense. It would instead take a little more planning, and perhaps some team work that they weren't really prepared to do.

Since their particular group didn't exactly get along with one another.

"What shall you do now?" Tucker asked from his location a safe distance away. His eyes still held a demented look as he watched the white haired captain pace around like a caged animal.

"This isn't a game you bastard!" Ed growled, getting to his feet despite the twinge of pain. Colliding with the barrier had been decidedly painful but it paled in comparison to the rage that he felt upon seeing Tucker again.

Of course he had came across many depraved people during his time as a dog of the military but what Tucker had done was especially heinous in his eyes. The man had used his own child as an ingredient in a transmutation.

In Ed's eyes that was unforgivable.

"Now now Edward," Tucker said, his gaze shifting to the blond boy and his facial expression turning darker. "Getting angry isn't going to help your situation. Let's see if the two so called child prodigies can get out of this."

This said Tucker turned and left.

"Damn it," Ed growled, his harsh gaze following Tucker until the former alchemist could no longer be seen. "He said that he wants to see if the two child prodigies can get out of this and then he turns around and leaves. That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever seen."

Mustang snorted. "Somehow I doubt that Fullmetal."

Ed whirled around, looking for all the world as though he were going to attack his former commanding officer. However Hitsugaya stepped in between them, not seeming even the slightest bit concerned about any attack that either of them might choose to launch.

"The two of you can take out your frustrations on one another AFTER we get out of here," the white haired captain snapped. He glared first at Ed and then shifted to Mustang, making sure that both of them knew that if they insisted upon starting a fight that HE would be the one to end it.

In no uncertain terms.

For a moment it looked as though Ed and Mustang might take their chances however, after a brief moment of thought, they decided otherwise.

"So how do you propose that we get out of this mess?" Mustang questioned, his dark eyes focused on Hitsugaya.

"Well," Hitsugaya said, having placed a fair amount of thought into that dilemma. "This guy named Tucker said that a reiatsu based attack would be deflected but…"

Ed picked up the train of thought at this point. "What he didn't mention was what would happen if we used alchemy."

Mustang's gaze shifted back and forth between the two of them before he nodded his head. "Do you think that using alchemy will be more effective? Because since Tucker's a former State Alchemist there's always the chance that he thought of this and designed a barrier that works against both."

"I've thought about that possibility," Hitsugaya said calmly. "And I would think it highly probable if not for something that Tucker said."

"Excuse me but what exactly was it?" Al asked from his position beside his brother. The other members of the group appeared likewise curious about the reasoning behind the young captain's words and they all gazed at him expectantly.

" 'Let's see if the two so called child prodigies can get out of this'," Hitsugaya quoted Tucker's earlier words. "He's testing us."

Ed nodded his head, following Hitsugaya's logic. "I think you're right. He's planning something and wants to see what we're capable of."

"But wouldn't it be easier to just kill us all now?" Hughes asked.

"It would if he only wanted us dead," Edward replied, glancing toward Hitsugaya to see if the white haired youth was of a similar opinion.

Hitsugaya nodded. "Suffering is his ultimate goal and for that he needs to know exactly how strong we are. And, while it's unwise to give him that information it's our only option at this point."

"I agree," Ed said, hoping that this plan would actually work. Because he wanted nothing more than to track Tucker down and beat him until he was a bloody mass on the ground.

Glancing over his shoulder Hitsugaya gazed at their assembled group, a thoughtful expression on his face. "This could be dangerous so I think that only Edward and I should attempt it… Matsumoto, I want you to erect a barrier kidou around the others of the group. It shouldn't be dangerous as long as you stand in the center of the barrier and maintain strict control."

"Right," Matsumoto said, nodding her head.

"Wait a minute," Mustang snapped, not really happy about the fact that he and the others seemed to be left out of this plan of action. He wasn't used to taking a backseat to anyone and still hadn't grown accustomed to following orders. "Wouldn't it be better for all of us to try to breech the barrier?"

Hitsugaya shook his head. "If we were only concerned about escaping then yes it would be better for all of us to attack. However there's still the slight chance that our attack will rebound and if that's the case it's better for you all to be shielded."

"But you seem willing to put Edward in harm's way," Izumi pointed out, her gaze locked onto the white haired youth.

"That isn't true," Hitsugaya stated calmly. "I would much prefer to take the risk myself but the truth is that Edward is better at alchemy than I am. He's our best chance at getting out of here."

"Nii-san," Al said, his voice laced with concern.

"It's okay Al," Ed said, turning toward his brother and offering him a reassuring smile. "I'll be just fine." Then he turned his attention back to Hitsugaya. "You ready?"

The Squad Ten Captain nodded, briefly turning and giving his vice-captain a nod. "Matsumoto…"

"Yes sir." Raising her hands Matsumoto quickly muttered the spirit chant that would raise a kidou barrier around her and the others.

Hitsugaya held his breath as Matsumoto evoked the kidou but released an audible sigh as it worked. It didn't appear to interfere with the barrier for which he was grateful. Now assured that the others would be safe no matter what happened he turned back to Ed and nodding once more.

Clasping his hands together Ed walked forward, quickly moving to the spot where he knew the invisible barrier to be. At the same time Hitsugaya held his blade, using Hyourinmaru to draw a transmutation circle in the air with ice.

The reaction was instantaneous. Sparks erupted and smoke briefly filled the area where the group was assembled. Then, once the smoke had cleared, both Ed and Hitsugaya stepped forward cautiously. Bracing for the pain of colliding with a barrier the two prodigies breeched the line where they knew the barrier ended.

And nothing happened.

"Success!" Ed said triumphantly.

"Very good," a voice called out, seeming to echo as though it were coming from a great distance. "I must admit that you figured it out quicker than I anticipated. I shall have to refrain from underestimating you again."

"Come out you bastard!" Ed exclaimed, his patience having waned long ago.

"All in due time…" And then the voice faded away.

A/N - They managed to escape the barrier but it looks like this was just a test of their abilities. Hope that you enjoyed the chapter.


	28. Searching Past and Present

Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach or Fullmetal Alchemist

Chapter Twenty-Eight - Searching Past and Present

Once the group had successfully escaped from the reiatsu deflecting barrier the decision was quickly made that they should attempt to track down Tucker. Of course it was Ed who demanded this course of action but there wasn't really anyone who argued with him over this desire.

It seemed that they were all pretty much in agreement over what should be done.

"The bastard can't have gotten that far," Ed growled, his golden eyes narrowed as he thought back to the man that had succeeded in capturing them in that damn barrier.

"Regardless of how far he may or may not have traveled we have to make an attempt to track him down," Hitsugaya said, refusing to allow the man to escape. He was still way beyond irritated over the fact that they had been trapped and was looking to redeem himself.

After all it was utterly disgraceful that he, a captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, had been captured in such a manner.

"Right," Ed agreed, nodding his head.

The group began moving forward, each searching for any signs of their enemy's presence. Hitsugaya took the lead, scanning for signs of anything out of the ordinary, while Ed remained in the back of the group. His tracking skills left much to be desired so he didn't really think that he'd prove very useful in this situation. His use would come when they actually found the bastards responsible for these traps and attacks. "I'll get them," he growled in a voice meant for no one in particular. It was more of a promise to himself.

As they walked through the Rukongai, Ed was only vaguely aware of their surroundings. His thoughts were otherwise occupied as he attempted to figure out exactly who he had angered enough that they would want vengeance this badly.

"This could take awhile," the blond youth mused to himself wryly, rubbing at the back of his head with one hand. "It's a pretty long list…"

During his stint in the military, although he had always tried to do things the right way, Ed had inevitably angered more than his share of people. The first group that came to mind were of course the Homunculi but he quickly shook off this idea as impossible. After all they were artificial humans without souls so they shouldn't even be able to end up in Soul Society in the first place. That narrowed down the list of possible suspects to a small degree but didn't diminish the fact that there were plenty of normal humans that Ed had upset during his rather brief life.

"Should have listened to Al when he told me to be nicer to people," he thought ruefully as he resumed his mental list.

"Nii-san…"

Ed was snapped out of his thoughts by the somewhat tentative voice of his younger brother. Turning his head he noticed that Al had a concerned expression on his face and out of habit he offered the younger boy a reassuring smile. "What is it Al?" he questioned, even though he was fairly certain that he already knew the answer to the question.

"Are you alright?" Al questioned, his gray eyes focused on the face of his older brother. He had always been adept at recognizing his brother's moods, even though Ed had always done his best to hide them from the rest of the world. "You seem somewhat distracted…"

Ed's first impulse was to deny this accusation but of course he knew that it was completely useless for him to do so. Al would see through the lie instantly so he merely shrugged his shoulders. "Just trying to figure out who could hate me enough to come up with such an elaborate plan for revenge…" He paused briefly at this point, chuckling to himself. Of course the laughter held no real humor in it. "It's a long list y'know."

"See?" Al said, attempting to lighten his brother's mood. He didn't like seeing him upset but was fairly certain that there wasn't anything that could be done for it at present. At least not until they got to the bottom of things and found out who exactly was pulling Tucker's strings. "You should have listened to me."

"Yea, yea," Ed grinned, waving his hand dismissively. "Enough with the 'I told you so's'. There are more important things to focus on right now."

"You're right," Al said, immediately growing serious. His brother was right, there were more important things to concentrate on right now. Top of the list being who was responsible for the creation of that barrier. "Do you really think that Tucker was smart enough to come up with that idea on his own?"

"I'm not sure," Ed mused, reaching up and touching his chin with his right hand. "He was smart, much as I hate him there's no denying that fact. But I'm not sure if his knowledge of alchemy would be enough… he'd also have to be fairly knowledgeable about this world because the barrier deflected reiatsu."

"So does that mean that his partner is someone from Soul Society?" Al questioned.

Ed thought about that question for a few minutes before responding. "They've more than likely been here longer than we have but I still think that it's someone from our life… because I'm fairly certain that I haven't angered anyone here enough to want to kill me."

"Well there is Tomori," Al reasoned, speaking of the member of Squad Five who seemed to have a grudge against the golden haired prodigy.

Ed shrugged off this suggestion. "There's no way that guy's smart enough to come up with something like this."

"For some reason I knew that you'd say something like that," Al said, noting the disdain that had appeared in his brother's voice when discussing his rival. "But aside from that I suppose that we really should concentrate on the people that we knew in life. They're the most likely suspects after all."

Ed nodded.

Al cracked a grin at this point. "If only there weren't so many of them."

Despite his current frustrations this comment caused a small smile to appear on Ed's face. "Alright now," he warned, pointing his index finger in his brother's direction. "That's about enough outta you."

The grin on Al's face merely widened. "If I didn't give you a hard time then you'd think that I was mad at you."

"Probably so," Ed conceded.

The younger of the two siblings grew serious at this point, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Have you thought about the possibility that Scar might be involved in all of this?"

"I have thought about that prospect," Ed admitted, thinking back to the man that he had fought on a number of occasions. Scar was an Ishbalan who had held a fierce hatred for the military in general and State Alchemists in particular. He had tried to kill Ed more than once and had succeeded in turning Al into a Philosopher's Stone before his death. "And at this point in the game he seems the one most likely to be behind this… but then again I have this nagging doubt. It's not really his style to sneak around and hide behind others. He's more the direct attack kind of guy."

"You have a point," Al said, gazing ahead in thought as he walked along beside his brother. "I suppose the only thing we can do is continue our search. That's really the only way to discover who's behind this."

Ed nodded.

"Hey!" a somewhat stern voice called out, interrupting the conversation between the two brothers. "Get a move on Fullmetal, you're falling behind. I don't want to have to come back and save your ass because you're not paying attention and get ambushed or something."

Rolling his eyes in the direction of his former commanding officer Ed none the less picked up the pace; Al immediately following suit. He and Al had fallen a fair distance behind the others while having their discussion and they had to almost sprint in order to catch back up to the others. "Like I'd ever allow that to happen," he quipped.

The young man was still thinking about who could be behind the series of attacks but in the end he realized that Al had a valid point. He could think about it all day long but the only way to truly find out who was behind it all was to continue their search and track down the bastard, or bastards as the case may be.

"I'm going to put an end to this," he vowed.

A/N - End of another chapter, hope that you enjoyed.


	29. Regroup

Disclaimer - I own neither Bleach nor Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter Twenty-Nine - Regroup

"I can't believe that we wasted all of that time for nothing," Ed growled as he and the others made their way back toward the Seireitei. They had spent hours searching for the persons responsible for the attacks and the modified Hollows, all with no luck. They were returning empty handed and decidedly foul tempered. Even the easy going Hughes had a scowl on his face as they returned to regroup and decide how to proceed.

"Well complaining about it isn't going to help the situation," Hitsugaya pointed out from his position at the head of the group. He had been far from happy about making the decision to postpone the search but they weren't having any luck and it was pointless to simply wander around the Rukongai. "We'll return to Squad Ten and make an attempt to come up with a plan."

"And exactly what kind of plan can we come up with?" Mustang questioned, his dark eyes focused on the white haired boy who was leading the way back. "We don't know anything about them except for the fact that they can modify those Hollow things and that they can produce a barrier that deflects reiatsu."

"That's where you're wrong," Hitsugaya said, his tone calm. Glancing over his shoulder he locked gazes with the dark eyed former colonel. "We know that they have a grudge… which means that we won't have to find them."

Ed's eyes shifted as he heard this bit of logic from Hitsugaya and he knew where the white haired prodigy was going. "They'll find us," he finished the thought, nodding his head in agreement.

Mustang looked somewhat surprised but shook it off rather quickly. It was true that the two boys had a very valid point but that fact only served to raise another question. "So you intend to just wait around until those responsible decide to attack again?"

"No," Hitsugaya said, shaking his head and returning his gaze to the forward position. "I intend to have a plan ready so that they next time they attack we can put an end to this once and for all."

"That's the best idea that I've heard in awhile," Ed said, nodding his head in agreement. He was completely fed up with the fact that their enemies seemed to be running the show and was more than ready for their group to take the upper hand.

"The situation must be dire indeed," Mustang commented dryly, shaking his head so that a couple of strands of his black hair fell in front of his eyes. "If Fullmetal is actually ready to sit down and make a plan."

"Watch it," Ed growled, narrowing his eyes as he turned to glare at his former superior. "I'll…"

Deciding to play the part of the diplomat Al interrupted before his brother had the chance to make the threat that was on the tip of his tongue. "So do you really think that we can come up with a plan before their next attack?"

Hitsugaya opened his mouth to reply to this question but never got the chance. Rushing forward Matsumoto seized her pint sized captain from behind, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. "Of course he can!" she exclaimed as Hitsugaya struggled for his freedom. "The captain is the greatest!"

"Matsumoto…" Hitsugaya growled, interrupting her praises.

Gazing down at him Matsumoto tilted her head slightly to the side, blinking her long lashes a few times. "What is it captain?"

"Release me at once." The young captain's voice was laced with irritation but of course his second in command chose to ignore that fact. A pout formed on her lips as she reluctantly released her hold on him, placing the white haired boy back on his own two feet. "Aw, you're no fun captain."

"I know," Hitsugaya said, adjusting his haori and continuing on his way.

While everyone else made every attempt not to laugh at the display. Because even Ed seemed to realize that this would be pushing the Squad Ten Captain over some sort of invisible line. And, having witnessed Hitsugaya's power first hand, not even Ed was willing to open that can of worms.

* * *

Arriving back at the Squad Ten barracks Hitsugaya quickly walked down the corridor to his office, still followed closely behind by the others. They were all dragging somewhat, owing to their exertions, but it was Hitsugaya and Ed who appeared the most drained. Though both of them were doing everything in their power to hide this fact from the others.

Stubbornness at it's finest and all that.

Sliding the door of the office open Hitsugaya led the way inside, followed by the others. Hughes brought up the tail end of the group so he took it upon himself to close the door behind them. Scattering out it wasn't long before everyone had found somewhere to sit, with Hitsugaya taking his customary chair at his desk.

"So," Mustang began once everyone had taken a seat. "We know that Tucker is somehow involved in this but that doesn't explain everything. He's working for someone so our next objective should be to find out exactly who that someone is."

"Right," Hawkeye said, nodding along with the others.

"Since it's obvious that your group knows about this Tucker person why don't you fill the rest of us in?" Matsumoto said, arching one brow as she gazed around the room. "It might be easier to find answers if we all know exactly what we're dealing with."

A far off expression appeared in Ed's golden eyes as he thought about the man whom he hadn't expected to ever see again. And he felt his hatred once again well up. "That bastard was a State Alchemist," he snarled, having already explained the concept of alchemy to the people in the room. "And he used his own daughter and her dog in a transmutation… he turned them into a chimera."

"So I take it this Tucker person has a grudge against you," Hitsugaya stated more than asked, his teal eyes focused on the blond youth.

Ed nodded but didn't elaborate. These were memories that he didn't really want to dwell on and he hoped that the Shinigami would get the hint and let the matter drop.

Which they did.

"Seems like a lot of people have a grudge against you," Hitsugaya commented after a moment, running a hand through his already unruly white hair. He was feeling the exhaustion from his usage of alchemy more than ever now that the adrenaline from before had ebbed. "Which is going to make it difficult to figure out who the mastermind of this plot is."

"It's not my fault," Ed said in his own defense, his gaze shifting to each of the room's inhabitants in turn… as though daring them to disagree with him.

So of course one of them couldn't resist the urge.

"Um, yea Nii-san, it kinda is," Al countered, the hint of a teasing quality in his voice.

Ed shot a glare in his younger brother's direction but didn't say anything. It was pointless to argue and he knew that Al wouldn't simply give in because, whether or not he wanted to admit it, his brother had a very valid point.

"I think we should all take a bit of a break," Matsumoto said, her voice quiet and uncharacteristically serious. The others in the group all shifted their gazes in her direction and she gestured toward the still figure sitting behind the desk.

It appeared as though Captain Hitsugaya had fallen asleep, his head resting on his folded arms.

No one argued with this suggestion, since they were all feeling the effects of their mission in the Rukongai.

A/N - End of another chapter, hope that you enjoyed.


	30. Traitor

Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach or FMA; just having a little fun with the characters.

Chapter Thirty - Traitor

Some time had passed since Hitsugaya and his group had returned from their fruitless search in the Rukongai. An annoyance that had proved to be a complete and utter waste of time that could most likely have been better spent doing other things. Apparently drained from everything that had been going on the white haired captain had fallen asleep at his desk and Matsumoto threatened the physical well being of the others should they wake him. It was odd for her captain to give any sign of weakness or even to show fatigue so the blond haired vice captain knew that he must really be exhausted to have fallen asleep in such a manner.

And with a room full of people no less.

While the Squad Ten Captain slept most of the others discussed possible battle strategies for the next time they encountered Tucker or anyone else who seemed able to use alchemy combined with kidou. Being a born leader and strategist Mustang was leading this conversation, which could have been one of the main reasons why Ed was completely ignoring it. Or it could have merely been because the blond Shinigami had other things on his mind but either way it was completely annoying to Mustang, who narrowed his eyes at his former subordinate.

"Hey Fullmetal…"

Completely oblivious to the words spoken to him by the raven haired man the blond youth remained lost in thought. That is until he heard the one sure fire word to break him out of any trance, no matter how deep.

"Pipsqueak…"

Ed jumped to his feet, a vein popping out on his forehead as he rounded on his former commanding officer, anger etched plainly on his features. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MICRO-SIZED RUNT?"

"I didn't take it that far," Mustang mused, a smirk playing across his face as he gazed at the young man. It never failed to amaze him the amount of vigor that Ed could put into these protests over any jibe about his height, whether it be real or imagined. Watching the boy's outbursts over such things had always amused him, though he would never admit to this fact. "But I'll have to keep that one in mind for the next time."

"I hate you," Ed growled, looking as though he would like nothing better than to punch the man in the nose. And, sensing that this was the case, Al moved between his brother and the former colonel. He was trained to be the peacekeeper between his brother and… well everyone, so it was second nature for him to do this.

"Brother," the younger male chastised mildly.

Tossing aside the magazine that she had been reading Matsumoto got to her feet, narrowing her eyes at the group. "I thought I told you to…"

This statement, and the threat that was about to accompany it, was cut short as another voice joined in. "You're too damn noisy Elric," a somewhat groggy voice stated, tinged with a hint of annoyance.

Glancing over simultaneously the group discovered that Captain Hitsugaya was once again awake, though he didn't look none too happy with that fact.

"It could be worse," Ed quipped, not really sounding all that remorseful that he had interrupted the white haired prodigy's nap.

"I've yet to figure out how," Hitsugaya said, regaining some of his customary composure as he returned to full alertness. He was a bit disturbed by the fact that he had fallen asleep while this group was in his office but hadn't been able to keep his eyes open. No matter how hard he had fought against it, sleep had claimed him against his will.

"I guess it was the use of alchemy," the prodigy mused to himself as his teal eyes surveyed the room. Most of the inhabitants seemed serious enough though there were two exceptions to this; Ed looked annoyed while Mustang looked smug. And, having heard the outburst from the blond haired member of Squad Five, Hitsugaya was well aware of the cause behind both of these looks.

Though he chose to ignore it.

"Try having to put up with that guy on a regular basis for years," Ed stated calmly, pointing toward Mustang as he spoke. "THAT would make it worse. Much, much worse."

Mustang scowled but before he got the opportunity to offer up a retort Hitsugaya suddenly leapt to his feet as he felt a surge of reiatsu. It was radiating from quite a distance, which only served to increase Hitsugaya's concern over the situation. It wasn't just one person; he could pick out several distinct reiatsu signals but none of them were ones that he recognized. Which meant that the situation needed to be investigated. "Matsumoto!" he exclaimed as he grabbed his Zanpaktou and rushed toward the office door.

"Yes Captain," Matsumoto said, following along behind him.

Ed felt the reiatsu as well and he quickly fell into step behind the two Squad Ten officers, thinking that they might need backup. The others weren't far behind and together the group once again made their way toward the Rukongai.

Rushing toward the gate that separated the Seireitei from the Rukongai, the white haired captain of Squad Ten paused briefly as the gatekeeper appeared. "We've got this under control," he stated in a commanding tone. The gatekeeper nodded as he allowed them access to the Rukongai.

"Guess he doesn't want anyone else to crash the party," Ed thought to himself as he and the others followed along behind Hitsugaya. He was grateful for the white haired prodigy because, although he could sense the reiatsu, he would have been lousy at tracking it. That wasn't exactly his strong suit after all.

Hitsugaya led the way out into the Rukongai, following a reiatsu trail that appeared to be moving away from them. The thought that this was a trap entered into the young captain's mind, since when he had first felt the reiatsu signal it had been stationary. With this thought in mind he came to an abrupt halt, turning his attention to those who were following him.

"What is it Captain?" Matsumoto asked, gazing at him with a questioning expression in her blue eyes.

"There's a strong possibility that this is a trap," Hitsugaya stated calmly, his gaze shifting to each member of the group in turn. "So if any of you would prefer not to go any further then I would suggest that you turn back now."

"Are you going ahead?" Ed questioned, locking gazes with the white haired captain.

"Yes," Hitsugaya replied without hesitation, his tone indicating that any other option was out of the question.

"Then I'm coming with you," the blond Shinigami stated; a sentiment that was soon echoed by every member of the group. Hitsugaya looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding his head and resuming his trek toward the reiatsu.

Before long the group arrived at a decimated town in the 53rd district. Flames consumed the small huts that comprised the town, smoke filling the air as the screams of the inhabitants rose up to join it. It was obvious that this had just occurred and Hitsugaya scanned the scene for those responsible.

His teal eyes widening as his searching gaze fell upon a group of five Shinigami, all of whom were smirking.

"You!" Ed snarled as he too noticed them. Stepping forward he clenched his hands into fists and narrowed his golden eyes at the apparent leader of the group.

Tomori… the man who had seemed determined to make his life as a Shinigami unbearable.

"Took you long enough to get here," the man sneered as he looked at the group. He seemed slightly surprised to see a captain among their ranks but quickly banished this emotion. It wouldn't matter in the long run… he had accomplished his mission. He waved his hand around casually, gesturing toward the carnage. "You could have prevented all of this if you'd only picked up the pace a little."

"You're going to die," Ed snarled as he drew his Zanpaktou.

A/N - End of another chapter, hope that you enjoyed. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought.


	31. Motives Revealed

Disclaimer - I own neither Bleach nor Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter Thirty-One - Motives Revealed

"If this fight is anything like our last one then I'm not concerned," Tomori stated calmly, his gaze shifting around the group that had accompanied Ed. This was a bit concerning to him but the Shinigami did an impressive job of hiding this fact. "Of course you brought all your friends along so you may just be able to beat me…" The man allowed his voice to trail off at this point, waiting for Ed to take the bait.

Which of course the blond boy did.

"They aren't going to interfere," Ed growled as he held up his blade. His golden eyed gaze briefly surveyed the blood soaked ground before returning to the face of the man that he absolutely loathed. He had always disliked the man but hatred had never really entered into the equation until now. "This fight is between you and me… and you're going to pay for what you've done here."

Hitsugaya gazed at the group of Shinigami who seemed to be responsible for the destruction of this town, a thoughtful expression in his teal eyes. There was something about this situation that struck him as incredibly odd; he recognized the group of Shinigami, they were all from Squad Five, and it didn't seem likely that they were behind the incidents that he and the others had been investigating. Tomori was a show off so if he knew something like alchemy, something that very few Shinigami possessed knowledge of, would he really have been able to keep it a secret?

Seemed highly unlikely as far as the young captain was concerned.

Hitsugaya's thoughts shifted back to the battle as he heard the sound of steel clashing together. Both Ed and Tomori had their blades out, each now attempting to throw the other off balance. The white haired prodigy had to admit that Ed's battle skills were much improved and, instead of the anger that he normally showed his eyes contained a calm determination. Yes he was still angry over the situation but he wasn't letting it get the better of him.

He was learning.

Unfortunately with the form that Ed's zanpaktou had taken it was more difficult for him to use it in combat, since he had to be in close quarters with his combatant in order to even hope to land a blow. "Glorified butcher knife," the blond muttered as he dodged an attack from Tomori's longer blade. It only took a couple of moments for Ed to decide that this simply wasn't going to cut it. Leaping back away from his opponent Ed tossed the blade up into the air, clasped his hands together, and called out, "Shine the light of truth upon my enemies, Hikari no Shinjitsu!"

The blade was enveloped with light, as it had been on every occasion that he had used his Shikai, but this time was different. Blue sparks swirled around along with the light, circling Ed's arm as he caught the staff that was his zanpaktou's unsealed form.

"That's new," Ed muttered as he caught the staff, twirling it in front of him a couple of times before rushing forward. Tomori was forced to step back as Ed resumed the offensive, his new staff making him much more of a match for the rogue Shinigami. "You're going to regret not taking me seriously," the blond growled as he swung upward with the staff, striking his opponent and knocking him backward.

It was at this point that the other four Shinigami decided that they would join the battle since their leader seemed to have lost his advantage. Drawing their swords they all rushed forward… only to be drawn to a halt as they were circled by a dragon of ice. Their gazes simultaneously shifted to Captain Hitsugaya, who glared at them through narrowed teal eyes. "Don't," he warned, a huge amount of warning packed into that single word.

They immediately lowered their blades and the others from Hitsugaya's group chose this moment to relieve them of their zanpaktou. They didn't want to take the risk that the rogue Shinigami would decide that they actually wanted to fight and taking their weapons was a good way to prevent this.

"Take them back to the Seireitei," Hitsugaya ordered, his gaze still focused on the battle that was raging. He intended to remain behind because he still had a bad feeling about this entire incident but someone needed to take the group of rogue Shinigami back to the Seireitei. Which he was going to trust his second in command to do. "They'll be dealt with later…"

"Yes captain," Matsumoto said, inclining her head to her superior. She, Mustang, Hughes and Hawkeye each seized one of them by the arms, giving Izumi the swords to carry. Once they were all in custody the Squad Ten vice-captain turned her attention back to Hitsugaya. There was a slightly concerned look in her blue eyes despite the fact that she opted not to protest about the fact that he was ordering most of the group back to the Seireitei. She would follow the orders that were given to her but there was something that she needed to know first. "Are you going to be alright?" she questioned.

Hitsugaya nodded. "If we haven't returned to the Seireitei once you have those guys locked up then come back…"

"Yes sir," Matsumoto said.

Within a matter of moments the only ones remaining in the Rukongai were Ed, Tomori, Hitsugaya and Al. And this fact seemed to delight Tomori, despite the fact that he was now outnumbered three to one. Jumping back, putting some distance between himself and Ed, he began laughing like a maniac.

"That was so much easier than I thought it would be," he said, grinning like a hyena and laughing hysterically.

Holding his staff out in front of him Ed gazed at the man, thinking to himself that the rogue Shinigami had finally completely fallen over the edge. "Um… what is your deal?"

"I was just supposed to get you and the white haired guy alone," Tomori said between his laughter. His gaze shifted over to Al, the extra part to the equation but the look on his face made it obvious that he didn't deem the Squad Four member much of a threat. "That was my mission but I never expected for you to make it so easy for me. Thought I'd have to work at it a little more but whatever. Granted there is an extra but he's just a Squad Four lackey."

"Hey!" Al exclaimed indignantly.

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed; he'd suspected something like this when he had learned that Tomori was responsible for the destruction of this district. "Why were you supposed to get us alone?" the white haired captain demanded.

"Because I told him to pipsqueak…"

Ed's golden eyes widened as he whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. This one he recognized immediately although he wasn't entirely sure how it was possible. "Can't be…"

A/N - End of another chapter, hope that you enjoyed.


	32. Envious

Disclaimer - I do not own FMA nor Bleach

Chapter Thirty-Two - Envious

"Is that you Envy?" Ed screamed out, turning in a circle in an attempt to lay eyes on the person who now appeared to be taunting him. He hadn't given thought to the Homunculi, aside from that first brain storming session when he had been trying to bring to mind EVERYONE who could possibly have a grudge against him. After all this was the Soul Society and the Homunculi weren't even supposed to have souls.

So how the hell was this guy even here?

"I take it from your angry tone that you know this person Elric?" Hitsugaya said, his gaze also surveying the surroundings in an attempt to pinpoint the location of the enemy.

"Oh he and I are well acquainted," the voice said as Envy suddenly appeared, as though he had used a flash-step. Narrowing his eyes he focused his full attention on Edward. "It's good to see you again Pipsqueak," he stated, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"What the hell are you doing here Envy?" Ed growled, his voice laced with hatred as he glared at the Homunculus through fierce golden eyes. This was honestly the last person that he had expected to see and, as a result, was still reeling form this discovery.

"I'm hurt that you would have to ask such a question," Envy said, his gaze briefly taking in the two extras in this little equation. His intention had been to get the Fullmetal pipsqueak alone but didn't really view the other two as a threat. "I'm here because I followed you of course."

"So I take it this is the person who has a grudge against you?" Hitsugaya said, his teal eyes focused on the rather odd looking guy who was standing a few feet away. At first glance it was difficult to tell whether the person was male or female, a fact that was rather disturbing to the young prodigy.

"This coming from the genius?" Tomori said, his voice somewhat taunting. He seemed to have grown somewhat braver now that his boss had arrived on the scene… brave enough even to taunt a captain. Of course this was a mistake on his part, as soon became evident when Hitsugaya drew his blade in one rapid movement and used the ice dragon to knock the rogue Shinigami on his ass.

Effectively rendering him both unconscious and useless.

"Idiot," Envy muttered as he watched the guy fall to a single attack. He didn't view the guy as a comrade, merely a pawn, and as a result couldn't care less what happened to him. "You should have killed the guy and put him out of our misery."

"Still the same as always I see," Ed said, holding up his staff and preparing for a fight against this foe who seemed to follow him no matter where he went. Determination shone bright in his eyes as he gazed at the Homunculus; if he had anything to say about it this would be the last time that he ever faced Envy in battle. "Absolutely no loyalty."

"What can I say Pipsqueak," Envy said with a shrug of his shoulders. "It's a learned trait…"

Growling low in his throat Ed launched himself forward, swinging the staff that he held in a circle in front of him. He was hoping that this would distract his opponent and give him an advantage.

For their part both Al and Hitsugaya watched intently as Ed attacked Envy, both resolving that they wouldn't join in the battle unless it became obvious that Ed needed their help. Because both were well aware of the fact that the temperamental blond youth wouldn't appreciate the interference. Not that Hitsugaya cared about this for the most part but he realized that this was a fight that Ed needed to take care of on his own if at all possible.

It was his fight.

"Be careful brother," Al said, his hand hovering over his zanpaktou. He made no move to draw it but seemed intent on being prepared should the need arise.

"Aw," Envy said, blocking the staff before sliding his feet forward in an attempt to trip up his opponent. "Looks like your friends are too scared to join in the fun."

"It's not fear," Ed said, catching his balance before he fell and swinging his staff forward. It caught Envy in the stomach, causing a smirk to spread across Ed's face. "It's just that they realize they aren't really needed. I don't need their help to kick your ass."

"Is that a fact?" Envy questioned, recovering from the blow fairly quickly. The Homunculus jumped back a couple of feet, positioning himself just out of range of Ed's weapon. "Because from what I remember these scenarios don't typically end so well for you Pipsqueak."

A muscle in Ed's jaw ticked at the repeated use of this nickname that he loathed but he refused to lose his temper, realizing that this was exactly what Envy was hoping for. Instead he leapt forward, attempting to stab the guy with the pointed end of the staff. Envy just barely managed to dodge this attack, not really having expected it, and the smirk on his face faltered somewhat.

"Come on big brother," Al said, his voice so low that only Hitsugaya could hear it. And even then only because the white haired prodigy was standing right beside him. "You can do it…"

To Hitsugaya it sounded almost as though he were trying to reassure himself as well as cheer on his older brother. His teal eyes shifted back and forth between the two brothers for a moment before settling back on the two combatants. He was interested to see how Edward was going to fair in this battle… and curious to know when alchemy was going to come into play.

Because he knew that at some point it was going to evolve into that. The blond youth had worked too hard to perfect the use of the skill inside the Soul Society to just ignore the fact that he had such a weapon at his disposal.

"It's only a matter of time," the young captain thought to himself as he watched Ed and Envy dance around one another, each dodging the attacks of the other with seeming ease. At some point, and most likely some point in the near future, they were going to have to step up the intensity of their attacks or else it would remain a stalemate forever. Something that Hitsugaya was fairly certain neither had the patience to deal with for long. "The only thing debatable in this equation is who will be the first to make a move."

A/N - End of another chapter and the mastermind is revealed as Envy. Not that I think anyone will be surprised by this fact since most people guessed as much in the last chapter. This being said hope that you enjoyed the chapter.


	33. Long Overdue

Disclaimer - I do not own Bleach or Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter Thirty-Three - Long Overdue

Both Ed and Envy danced around one another for awhile, neither really able to gain any ground on the other. And, during this time, both tossed out insult after insult directed at the other. It would be obvious, even to someone who wasn't familiar with either of them, that the pair had a less than pleasant past.

Hitsugaya's hand twitched as he resisted the urge to join in the fight. At the present moment there was no reason for him to become involved other than his own personal desire to end this quickly. This intruder to the Soul Society had irritated him beyond all reason and the white haired prodigy was itching to put an end to the irritant once and for all.

But, personal irritation aside, Hitsugaya knew that it wouldn't be right for him to interfere in the battle. It was something that Ed had the right to settle for himself. It was a matter of honor and not something that Hitsugaya could just ignore.

"I knew that you were pathetic pipsqueak," Envy said as he once again dodged a blow from Ed. "But you've gotten even worse since last we fought."

Ed twitched slightly at the use of one of the many nicknames that he couldn't stand but he absolutely refused to allow this to cause him to lose his focus. One of the things that he'd learned in his training was self restraint and, although he couldn't keep the vein from bulging in his forehead, he managed to keep himself from screaming at his opponent. Growling low in his throat Ed twirled his zanpaktou before slashing out at Envy. At first it appeared as though his aim was to hit the homunculus with the staff but at the last moment Ed pulled it back and then stabbed at Envy with the tip.

Envy dodged the first of the blows, smirking at how obvious it was, but was caught off guard by the second. Screaming out in rage he pulled the tip of the blade from his shoulder, glaring at Ed as the blond Shinigami boy jumped back and prepared for the next attack. "You're going to regret that pipsqueak.. I don't like pain."

"Like anyone does you idiot," Ed said, glaring at the homunculus through narrowed golden eyes. His voice was low and mocking as he prepared for another attack. He was determined to put an end to this rivalry once and for all this time around and this fact shone plainly in his eyes. Gripping his zanpaktou he dashed forward, twirling his weapon in an effort to throw his opponent off guard.

"Well there are some," Envy said, his gaze locked onto Ed's weapon. He was well aware of what the blond was attempting and was keeping his guard up. "I'm not one of them though… and you're going to have to do better than that if you hope to beat me Fullmetal pipsqueak."

Growling low in his throat Ed tossed his zanpaktou into the air, clasping his hands together and sinking to a crouching position simultaneously. Placing his hands to the ground he watched, a smirk appearing on his face, as spikes of stone shot up from the ground right beneath Envy. For his part the homunculus had been keeping his eye on the weapon, unsure of what exactly it was capable of, so he didn't anticipate the alchemic attack that Ed launched beneath his feet.

Which meant that he wasn't in a position to either block or dodge.

"That was just uncalled for," he growled as he got to his feet, dusting off his clothes and glaring at the blond.

Smirk still firmly in place Ed caught his zanpaktou as it fell back to earth, twirling it in front of him a couple of times before leaping forward. "This is a battle, in case you've forgotten Envy. And I have no intention of letting you walk away from it… not this time."

Actually Ed was a little surprised that this attack had worked; he'd expected for Envy to anticipate the use of alchemy so the fact that he'd been so completely caught off guard came as somewhat of a shock. "Guess I'm not the only one whose skills have diminished… that was pathetic."

"I'll show you pathetic you runt!" Envy exclaimed, a vein almost identical to Ed's bulging out of his forehead as he lost his temper. Dashing forward he attempted to kick the blond boy's feet out from under him, hoping to put him in a vulnerable position.

"Brother be careful!" Al exclaimed as he watched Envy leap forward. There was a look of concern in his gray eyes but the younger of the two brothers made no attempt to interfere. Much like Hitsugaya he realized that this was Ed's fight to finish and, so long as the his brother was holding his own against the homunculus he was resolved to let things play out as they would.

Noting the attack just in the nick of time Ed leapt into the air, allowing Envy to slid beneath him before bringing his zanpaktou down with a resounding thud. Envy hissed in pain as the wood of the staff collided with his back. This fight wasn't exactly turning out the way that he had envisioned and he was beyond irritated by this fact. Snarling he got to his feet quickly, turning his intention toward the spectators before shifting his gaze back to Ed.

"You're going to regret that…"

The voice of the homunculus was low and dangerous and Envy's eyes glowed a malicious red as his form began to shift. Stepping back to the spot where Hitsugaya and Al were standing Ed watched as his opponent shifted to a different form. His body grew immense in size, elongating and taking on a decidedly reptilian appearance.

"A dragon?" Hitsugaya questioned, his teal eyes focused on Envy.

"Yep," Ed said, his gaze also focused on the homunculus. He was well aware of Envy's ability to change his shape, though admittedly was surprised that he could still perform this in the Soul Society. Not that it changed anything, really. "This isn't going to be easy…"

A/N - End of another chapter and this story is drawing close to the end. Two chapters remaining after this one. Hope that you enjoyed, farewell til next time.


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